• Global inventors in the spotlight: 12 teams and individuals across 10+ countries nominated for Europe's premier Inventors' Award in four diverse categories: ‘Industry’, ‘Research’, ‘Non-EPO Countries’, and ‘SMEs’
• Popular Prize voting starts today for all the finalists
• Join us to discover the winners in each category during the award ceremony on 9 July 2024, streamed live online here
• These finalists and their inventions are taking on challenges that help build more sustainable societies and improve our daily lives, across diverse domains from healthcare to energy storage

The European Patent Office (EPO) proudly unveils the twelve finalists for the esteemed 2024 European Inventor Award, spotlighting inventors leading technological advancement across diverse domains including healthcare, energy storage, and manufacturing. These innovators stand as models of ingenuity, recognised not only for their scientific and technological prowess but also for the profound societal impact of their inventions.

Selected through rigorous evaluation by a distinguished international jury, these visionary minds will be celebrated at a dynamic hybrid ceremony on July 9, 2024, against the stunning backdrop of Malta. This location serves as the perfect stage to pay tribute to their groundbreaking contributions at the European Inventor Award 2024 ceremony. Global audiences can partake in the excitement through live streaming, ensuring worldwide engagement with this important occasion.

The 2024 finalists

From healthcare breakthroughs to eco-friendly manufacturing, the innovations of our finalists transcend boundaries, tackling pressing global issues head-on. Their visionary work encompasses pioneering biotechnological treatments, sustainable energy solutions, and cutting-edge diagnostics, forging a path towards a brighter, more sustainable future.

The 2024 finalists comprise a diverse cohort of visionaries coming from a multitude of countries, including France, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Japan and the United States. An esteemed international panel of jury members, including past finalists, drew upon their rich expertise in technology, business and intellectual property to identify the most exceptional entries. Steering this rigorous selection process once more was Prof. Wolfgang M. Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, whose leadership ensured the curation of finalists from a pool of over 550 proposals spanning the globe.

The finalists by category are:

Industry:

• Icelandic Fertram Sigurjonsson and his team for developing a biotech-derived wound healing product using fish skin. Find out more about the inventor here.
• Fiorenzo Dioni from Italy and Richard Oberle from Germany for their advancements in aluminium casting technology that reduces carbon emissions in automotive manufacturing. Find out more about the inventors here.
• Ulf Landegren and Simon Fredriksson from Sweden for their work in molecular diagnostics enhancing disease detection and management. Find out more about the inventors here.

SMEs:

• Finnish inventors Sirpa Jalkanen and Markku Jalkanen for their work on a targeted immunotherapy to treat cancer. Find out more about the inventors here.
• French inventors Bruno Mottet, Lydéric Bocquet and their team for their osmotic power generation technology utilising nanostructured materials. Find out more about the inventors here.
• A Polish team led by Olga Malinkiewicz for their innovative thin-film perovskite solar cell printing technology. Find out more about the inventor here.

Research:

• German Cordelia Schmid, for her AI solutions that enable advanced machine perception that closely mimics human visual interpretation. Find out more about the inventor here.
• Maltese Tonio Sant and Daniel Buhagiar and their team for their sustainable offshore energy storage solution. Find out more about the inventors here.
• The French team led by David Devos and Caroline Moreau for their innovative treatments for Parkinson’s disease that offer better management of the disease and fewer side effects. Find out more about the inventors here.

Non-EPO Countries:

• A Brazilian team led by Fernando Catalano and Micael Carmo for their innovations that reduce noise and carbon emissions in air travel. Find out more about the inventors here.
• American-based David Fattal for his advancements in display optics and software to create glasses-free 3D imaging. Find out more about the inventor here.
• Masato Sagawa from Japan for his contributions to developing superior permanent magnets used in various high-tech applications. Find out more about the inventor here.

Lifetime Achievement, Popular Prize and Young Inventors Prize

From today, the public is invited to engage with the European Inventor Award 2024 by voting for their favourite invention among the 12 finalists for the Popular Prize. Voting will continue until the ceremony day on 9 July 2024.

Celebrating its third year, the Young Inventors Prize spotlights the ingenuity of individuals aged 30 and under whose technical innovations hold promise in advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This platform underscores the pivotal role of youth in propelling global inventions forward. Additionally, the unveiling of the esteemed Lifetime Achievement category winner of the European Inventor Award 2024 will precede the ceremony by two weeks, adding further anticipation to this momentous event.

Media contacts European Patent Office

Luis Berenguer Giménez

Principal Director Communication / EPO spokesperson

EPO press desk

press@epo.org

Tel.: +49 89 2399-1833