A number of groundbreaking innovations are vying for the UCC Invention of the Year award which will be announced today.

Among this year’s shortlist for the award is SmartBandage, which automatically monitors the state of health of the wound and controls the rate of delivery of drugs, thereby reducing the recovery time and minimising infection, and AHU Fault Finder, an automated remote control for detecting faults in industrial air handling units which, if left unchecked, can be very costly and impact significantly on air quality and energy costs. Another shortlisted invention, is the GlasDasha building management app which determines real-time heating requirements in office buildings using mobile technology.

"The UCC Invention of the Year Awards is a clear demonstration of how cutting-edge research, taking place in Ireland's academic institutions, can be commercialised," Dr Stephen Flinter, scientific programme manager with Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and a judge at the awards, said. The winners will be announced today by Minister for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock.

Last year, a device designed to enhance wireless communication signals won the overall award. The technology, developed by Prof Peter Kennedy of the Tyndall National Institute, has now been licensed by Analog Devices.

The competition is a key element of the UCC Annual Research Commercialisation Awards at which 12 new licenses for cutting-edge technology in the fields of biosciences and ICT will be announced.