MUNICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Voting is open for the European Inventor Award 2017 Popular Prize. Members of the public are invited to cast their vote for their favourite inventor from among the 15 finalists. The winner will be announced when the European Patent Office (EPO) presents this year’s Award ceremony in Venice on 15 June.
The European Inventor Award is presented annually by the EPO. While the winners of the Award’s five categories, “Industry”, “Research”, “Non-EPO countries”, “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)”, and “Lifetime achievement”, are selected by an international jury, the public alone decides who takes home the Popular Prize.
In the Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) category, the finalists include UK inventor Steve Lindsey for a novel rotary air compressor that can cut energy consumption by up to 20%.
Lindsey says: “To begin with I didn’t know a great deal about compressors, like many people. And then I read that 10 percent of electricity that is used within Europe across all industries goes into compressors. It’s a fantastically high figure. And I realized that if you could make a difference to that, you could potentially make a big difference to energy usage across Europe.”
Voting is easy: An online vote open to everyone runs until 11 June at www.epo.org/vote and www.facebook.com/europeanpatentoffice. All 15 finalists and their inventions are presented on the EPO website, so the public can pick their favourite. Voters will be entered into a draw, giving them the chance to win a prize – a small, innovative tech product. One vote can be cast every 24 hours until the closing date.
This year’s finalists come from twelve countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.