Two EPFL spin-offs receive European entrepreneurship awards
© 2013 EPFL
The winners of the 5th annual Academic Enterprise Awards have been announced at a conference that brought together Europe's innovation leaders to discuss the importance of research, innovation and entrepreneurship These include 2 EPFL companies out of 10 laureates.
ICT winner Kandou Bus, spun out of research at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland impressed the judges with its design, implementation and licensing of chip-to-chip serial links that are much faster (2 times or more) and much more power-efficient (50 per cent or less) than any in existence today. Its technology promises to reduce power consumption in electronic systems requiring high-speed connections between chip components.
The ACES awards programme was created in 2008 by Science|Business, a Brussels- and London-based media company and innovation network set up to recognise entrepreneurship at academic institutions.
The ACES 2013 winners conference was held at the European Parliament in Brussels. The winners were chosen by the Science|Business Innovation Board from a shortlist drawn up by a jury drawn from academia, industry and venture capital. The prizes were announced and awarded at a gala dinner at the Plaza Theatre, Brussels.
The full list of finalists chosen include founders and leaders of the following organisations (in alphabetical order, by prize category):
For the Energy and Environment Award:
Winner. Christophe Robillard, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. Company: Qualisteo.
Runner-up. Elodie Dahan, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. Company: OsmoBlue.
For the ICT Award
Winner. Amin Shokrollahi, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. Company: Kandou Bus.
Runner-up. Suat Topsu Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. Company: OLEDCOMM.
For the Life Sciences Award
Winner. Andrew Mackintosh, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Company: Sphere Fluidics Limited.
Runner-up. David Micklem, University of Bergen, Norway. Company: BerGenBio AS.
For the Materials and Chemicals Award:
Winner. Alexander Wulff, Technical University of Denmark & Copenhagen Business School. Company: ABEO.
Runner-up. Jörg P. Feist, Imperial College London, United Kingdom. Company: Sensor Coating Systems.