2018 Innovation Awards: final call for entries

The closing date for entries for this year’s Irish Times Innovation Awards is Friday, July 6th.

Up for grabs for the eventual winner is a high-profile communications package worth in excess of €150,000 comprising of advertising promotion across The Irish Times print and digital offerings, along with scholarships to all three UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business short courses in executive development.

The categories for entry are:

• Sustainability (Innovations in economic, environmental and social sustainability)
• IT and Fintech (Innovations in hardware, software, security, telecommunications products and services)
• Life sciences and healthcare (Innovations in biology, biochemistry, microbiology, physiology, botany, zoology, and related medtech sectors)
• Manufacturing and design (Innovations in engineering, design and the production of industrial and consumer products)
• New frontiers (Innovations that do not fall into any other category)

[Register now for The Irish Times Innovation Awards 2018]

The awards are open to entrepreneurs, scientists, technologists and creators based in Ireland, North and South, who have come up with ground-breaking product and service innovations. Winners are not judged according to their scale but on their potential to solve real problems regardless of their business type.

Previous winners and runners up have included a novel new treatment for ulcerative colitis, an ingenious new medical device to assist with orthopaedic surgery, an online high-end design and desktop publishing service, a revolutionary system for the installation of heating and ducting systems, a new process for cleaning and sterilising drinks manufacturing and bottling lines, a water treatment system which has the potential to bring clean drinking water to millions around the world, and an antimicrobial spray applied to glass and ceramics during or after manufacture or added to plastics and paint which kills MRSA and other pathogens on contact.

The Kastus anti-microbial technology has been making waves internationally since the company took the top award for 2017.

"We are targeting original equipment manufacturers in Europe, the Middle East and the US", says chief executive John Browne. "Our product is not just anti-microbial, it is very hard wearing, scratch resistant, easy to clean and very durable. It also has the potential to reduce the number of rejects coming off the production line. When our product is sprayed on before the tiles go into the kiln it can fill in small imperfections and smoothen the surface. When you're producing 100 million square metres of tiles every year that can be a very attractive benefit."

2016 winner Arralis took the honours for its highly advanced 94GHz frequency band chipset which can dramatically improve the performance of aerospace and satellite guidance systems. It is uniquely well suited to meeting the onboard radar requirements of the emerging autonomous car industry.

"The main issue for current radar systems for cars is that they are actually designed for automatic cruise control", says Arralis chief technology officer Mike Gleaves. "It's just a narrow beam looking at the road ahead. In the autonomous situation, you need as close as possible to 180 degree coverage at the front of the car. You also need to be able to detect small obstacles such as pedestrians. You need to be able to scan at least 200 metres ahead and that means you must have radar."

The overall award winner will win a communications package of worth in excess of €150,000 of online and digital advertising across The Irish Times, while category winners in this year’s awards will receive a €10,000 communications package with The Irish Times.