How to shut the kitchen furniture - Público.pt

Portuguese investigation was first represented among the finalists of the most important European Innovation Award. Nominees for the development of an environmentally friendly way to expand agglomerated cork, Helena Pereira and Antonio Velez seen, however, the European Inventor Award be given to collective Austrian who got away with the noise of doors and drawers in kitchens around beating the world.

Prizes of the European Patent Office (EPO in English acronym) were delivered on Tuesday in Amsterdam. The category in which the competing Portuguese researchers, industry, the winners were Hämmerle Claus and Klaus Brüstle that developed for the Austrian firm Blum a system of dampers for kitchen furniture that is similar to the car, lock the doors and drawers and prevents the beating.

is an innovation that began arriving to the European houses for nearly a decade and since then it has spread across the globe. “It’s funny to think that I’m doing such a small thing that everyone now has the kitchen. It’s a funny feeling, “said Claus Hämmerle the PUBLIC. “I started working at Blum ten years ago and since then, whenever I visit someone, you’ll see the kitchen. Just to see. I had never interested in kitchen before, “joked the Austrian.

distinction in 2013 due to the time required to analyze and EPO granted a patent, which can take between three and four years. That explains that innovations nominated in this seventh edition of the awards are not very recent technological advances. The same goes with the Portuguese discovery, whose work was also initiated more than ten years.

Still in Lisbon, in conversation with the PUBLIC, Helena Pereira appreciated especially as regards the premium, the presence among the finalists. “It is obvious that the nomination as a finalist makes us very happy, because it is the recognition of this work and the work behind,” he said. “No doubt you recognize the quality of research done by our working group is important. But I also think it’s important to talk about cork and Portuguese research in this area, which is so domestic and so specific, and a material so interesting, “concluded lead researcher of the Institute of Agronomy. In the same conversation, Anthony Velez, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, stressed that “it is obvious that the work did not stop here.” The expansion cork “just opened a line of work.” “We continue to work, taking into account possibly applications of this type of material.”

José Luis López Gómez, the third competitor in the category Industry, was also honored at the Beurs van Berlage. The Spanish researcher, who built the “independent wheels” used in high-speed trains in Spain – increasing the stability and security of trains – won the People’s Prize, which resulted in a vote online in site EPO and was awarded for the first time this year. Visibly pleased, López Gómez received the biggest ovation of the ceremony which was attended by Princess Beatrice, Queen abdicante the Netherlands, and the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Michel Barnier.

a press conference that preceded the awards, Michel Barnier said that innovation is part of the European strategy for growth and that the “smart protection” of intellectual property through the EPO, is a form of European companies make sure the “efficiency” of its investments in research and innovation. The Commissioner stressed that the achievement of unitary patent system – due to enter into force at the end of the year or in early 2014 – will also allow us to cut costs associated with patenting. “To be fair, I think we have not reached the Lisbon objective of making Europe the most competitive market in the world. That’s why this is so important, “he said.

LCD, USB, DNA and nanomedicine
Innovation means creating a completely new product, improve an existing or previous devices become obsolete. In the remaining four categories of the European Inventor Award, the winners are examples of all these forms of innovation.

Martin Schadt won the most important of these classes: the premium career. The Swiss investigator is responsible for another change of mounts we have seen in recent years at home – a significant reduction in the size of our televisions. Martin Schadt built the first flat screen TV, which was popularized as a plasma screen, and in addition to saving space, reduced the energy consumption and improve defição image.

USB was another acronym that invaded everyday beginning of this century – and why another distinction in Amsterdam, dedicated to innovations in the category non-European to Ajay V. Bhatt, Sudarshan Bala Cadambi, Jeff Morriss, Shaun and Shelagh Callahan Knoll. This technology plug and play , developed in the 1990s, has simplified connecting peripherals to computers to televisions, mobile phones and tablets , and replaced the CD and DVD in transport data.

In the category SME (small and medium enterprises), were distinguished by the advances made in the field of Pal Nyrén DNA sequencing. The Swedish scientist and entrepreneur is responsible for the pyro-sequencing method, which allows to do it in a less complicated and, therefore, faster and cheaper. This discovery not only worth by itself, but also by opening doors in curing diseases like cancer, enabling the customization of treatments.

Cancer is also one of the concerns of the French-Italian team of scientists, led by Patrick Couvreur, won in the category Research. What has been done to develop capsules 70 times smaller than red blood cells, with a protective biodegradable, are intended to cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue. In thanks, Couvreur said the waiting period until it comes to innovation in nanomedicine patients since its formulation in the laboratory, is about ten years.