European Inventor Award 2022 finalists announced

The EPO has named 13 outstanding inventors or teams as finalists of the 2022 European Inventor Award. The prize celebrates their genius and creativity, and recognises their contributions to a brighter and more prosperous world. With eight women named finalists and multiple inventions in green technologies, the 2022 Award also reflects progress and positive societal change. The winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony on 21 June.

"Our finalists represent diverse sectors of industry and fields of technology, underlining the depth of human ingenuity while providing solutions for challenges that impact us all," says EPO President António Campinos. "The European patent system provides a framework that encourages inventors to develop their ideas, enabling them to keep us healthy, our planet sustainable, and our society prosperous."

Awards will be given in five categories: Industry, Research, Non-EPO countries, SMEs and Lifetime achievement. From this year onwards, the Lifetime Achievement category will feature a single laureate who will be revealed at the ceremony.

In addition, the public can now begin voting online to decide which of the finalists below should receive the Popular Prize. Votes may be cast until 21 June 2022.

The 2022 finalists represent 12 countries: Belgium, Canada, China, Estonia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. They were selected by an independent, international jury from a pool of hundreds of inventors put forward by members of the public, patent offices, and EPO staff.

The 2022 finalists in four categories are:  

Industry

• Frank Herre, Hans-Georg Fritz, Timo Beyl, Marcus Kleiner and Benjamin Wöhr (Germany): Revolutionary no-waste car body paint system
• Jaan Leis, Mati Arulepp and Anti Perkson (Estonia): Superior carbon-based materials for ultracapacitors
• Frédérick Pasternak (France): Unlocking next-gen weather forecasts and climate models

Research

• Elena García Armada (Spain): World's first adaptable robotic exoskeleton for children
• Claude Grison (France): Decontaminating polluted soils with metal-eating plants
• Johan Martens, Tom Bosserez and Jan Rongé (Belgium): Green hydrogen from sunlight and air

Non-EPO countries

• Donald Sadoway (Canada/United States): Liquid metal batteries for storing renewable energy
• Ido Sella and Shimrit Perkol-Finkel (Israel): Concrete technology to encourage marine biodiversity
• Marco Stampanoni, Zhentian Wang and team (Switzerland/China): Phase-contrast X-ray imaging for advanced breast cancer detection

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

• Nuno Correia, Carla Gomes and team (Portugal): Floating solar farm mooring system that tracks the sun
• Madiha Derouazi, Elodie Belnoue and team (Switzerland/France): Therapeutic vaccine platform to treat cancer
• Nuria Espallargas and Fahmi Mubarok (Spain/Indonesia): Ground breaking spray-on ceramic coatings
• Joachim Fiedler (Germany): Fun, strong fasteners for quick release

Further information:

Learn more about the 2022 finalists

Vote in the Popular Prize

Livestream: inventorward.org