The European Inventor Award celebrates inventors for their creativity, flair and, often, sheer perseverance. Launched by the European Patent Office in 2006, the awards honour Europe's pioneers, working both individually and in teams. They also look beyond continental borders, to identify inventors outside Europe who are busy finding solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
The winners are selected by an independent jury consisting of international authorities in the fields of business, politics, science, academia and research, who examine the proposals in terms of their contribution towards technical progress, social development, economic prosperity and job creation in Europe.
When will it take place?
The awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 7 Junefrom around 10:30 am CEST in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris, France. It will be broadcast live here.
If you are having trouble viewing the ceremony, please ensure that you have Flash player activated on your computer.
Who are the nominees?
The 2018 finalists in the five categories are:
1. Industry
Erik Loopstra (Netherlands) and Vadim Banine (Netherlands/Russia): EUV lithography for smaller, more powerful microchips
Gaute Munch, Erik Hansen and team (Denmark): LEGO programmable robots
Agnès Poulbot and Jacques Barraud (France): Auto-regenerating tyre tread
2. Research
Jens Frahm (Germany): Faster, real-time MRI
Eileen Ingham and John Fisher CBE (United Kingdom): Donor tissue without rejection
Jacek Jemielity, Joanna Kowalska, Edward Darżynkiewicz and team (Poland): Stabilising messenger RNA
3. Non-EPO countries
Stephen Dewar (Canada), Philip Watts (United States/Canada) and Frank Fish (United States): Turbines and fans inspired by whales
Alex Kipman (Brazil): HoloLens: mixed reality smart glasses
Esther Sans Takeuchi (United States): Batteries to reset the heart
4. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Mehrdad Mahdjoubi (Sweden): Closed-loop shower
Jane ní Dhulchaointigh and team (Ireland): Sugru: multi-purpose mouldable glue
Thomas Scheibel (Germany): Artificial spider silk
5. Lifetime achievement
Ursula Keller (Switzerland): Ultrafast pulsed lasers
Jacques Lewiner (France): Smoke alarm, internet connections, secure key cards and many more
Henrik Stiesdal (Denmark): Offshore wind farms