Innovators From Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and US win European Inventor Award 2011

MUNICH, BRUSSELS and BUDAPEST, May 19, 2011 - The European Patent Office, the Hungarian EU Council Presidency and the
European Commission awarded Europe's most prestigious innovation prize at the
Academy of Sciences in Budapest today.

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The winners are:

- Lifetime Achievement: Per-Ingvar Branemark (Sweden). He is
the pioneer of osseointegration, now a widely practised medical method
based on titanium implants, which creates a stable connection between the
implant and bone. Today it is a standard technique among dentists and is
widely used in reconstructive surgery.

- Industry: Ann Lambrechts, Bekaert (Belgium). Lambrechts'
invention has opened up a world of new architectural possibilities by
improving the bending strength of reinforced concrete structures. The
steel fibre elements she developed greatly increase the tensile strength
of concrete, reduce construction time and have enabled many spectacular
new structures such as the Gotthard tunnel.

- SMEs: Jens Dall Bentzen, Dall Energy Aps (Denmark). His
special low-emission furnace burns biofuels with a moisture content of up
to 60% and is therefore ideal for eco-friendly, highly efficient and
hence inexpensive power generation from biomass in factories and
production plants.

- Research: Christine Van Broeckhoven, Vlaams Interuniversitair
Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Belgium). Her pioneering method for
identifying disease genes in Alzheimer's sufferers paved the way for the
development of modern drugs and treatments to combat the disease. Each of
the genes and proteins that Broeckhoven has identified acts as a
potential "target" for treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

- Non-European countries: Ashok Gadgil, Vikas Garud, University
of California/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, WaterHealth
International (USA/India). Their water purification device requires only
a 40 watt UV light bulb to disinfect 1 000 litres of water per hour. It
has been installed in more than ten countries worldwide, delivering clean
water to over two million people.

    Contact:
    Oswald Schroder
    Spokesperson
    European Patent Office
    Erhardtstr. 27 | D-80469 Munich
    Tel: +49(0)89-2399-1800
    Fax: +49(0)89-2399-2850
    oschroeder@epo.org
    press@epo.org
    www.epo.org/press

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