Publish Date: 24.04.2017
Category: News from the University
The Rector of the University of Ljubljana, Prof. Dr. Ivan Svetlik, today presented the Rector's Awards for the best innovation at the University of Ljubljana for 2017. The award for the best innovation received the project titled Interactive Regulation of the Form of Development, the second place was taken by the project Particle Microcoater – Granules, Pellets and Mini Tablets, and the third place was taken by the project MV4HGS – In-line Vision System for Anomaly Detection on High Gloss Surfaces. The authors of the three winning innovations received support for marketing their innovations and a monetary award from the Rector's fund in the total value of € 6.000.
The Rector's Award competition for the best innovation, which the University of Ljubljana has been organising in cooperation with the Ljubljana University Incubator of the University of Ljubljana, saw its seventh edition. "This year the innovations of all the finalists were very interesting and applicable. They have a great potential and are interdisciplinary. They bring together innovators from the industry and researchers from the faculties. It seems that the idea of creating innovations within the University is developing successfully," pointed out the Rector of the University of Ljubljana, Prof. Dr. Ivan Svetlik.
Collaboration of science, the industry and non-commercial activities under the University of Ljubljana comes together in all aspects. The aim of such partnerships is to create an efficient transfer of knowledge and services into the industry and the wider society. "The most innovations come from the University of Ljubljana's environment, and we know that the potential for innovation is not yet exhausted. For this particular purpose we are introducing different activities, Rector's Award is one of them, which encourage innovations," added the Vice-rector, Prof. Dr. Tanja Mihalič.
The expert panel evaluated the work of twenty teams with a total of 70 participants; they selected seven teams, including the three winners. "Each year the work is more inspired. The researchers think about the market potential of their knowledge, which is very important. In the seven years since the competition has been organised, we received 183 ideas from almost all the members of the University, which brought together 504 participants," explains the Managing Director of the Ljubljana University Incubator of the University of Ljubljana, dr. Lidija Honzak.
This year's winners of the Rector's Award for the best innovation of the University of Ljubljana reveal their plans for the future: "Presently the US is our largest market. In May we are going to participate in a conference in New York, where we will introduce ourselves. At the same time we are also the finalists with the most points in the Start-Up Slovenia Competition," revealed the member of the winning team Dr. Jernej Vidmar and added: "From now on we will focus less on competitions and more on the development of our idea."
Presentation of finalists and their innovations is available here.
The winners the Rector's Award for the best innovation of the University in Ljubljana are:
1st place
Interactive Regulation of the Form of Development
The Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Computer and Information Science
of the University of Ljubljana
2nd place
Particle Microcoater – Granules, Pellets and Mini Tablets
The Faculty of Pharmacy, The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana, Institute for Pharmaceutics and Biopharmacy
3rd place
MV4HGS – In-line Vision System for Anomaly Detection on High Gloss Surfaces
The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana
The panel of experts chose the winning innovations on the basis of the following criteria:
- clarity of presentation of idea,
- innovativeness of the project,
- technological potential of the product/service described,
- risk level in comparison with the estimated market yield,
- marketing potential,
- the competition and the project's competitive advantages,
- quality of the business model,
- quality of the implementation plan,
- team's appropriateness for the implementation of the project,
- quality of relationships with the University of Ljubljana,
- developmental stage of the innovation,
- influence on the improvement of the quality of life,
- pitch.
Photos by Foto studio Nora, d. o. o.
This year's finalists for the Rector's Award with the Managing Director of LUI Dr. Lidija Honzak, Vice-Rector of UL Prof. Dr. Tanja Mihalič and the Rector of the UL Prof. Dr. Ivan Svetlik (middle).
This year the panel of experts was most impressed by the innovation of the team, who presented the interactive regulation of the form of development. Dr. Jernej Vidmar and Žiga Böhm, members of the innovative team.