The Award that Celebrates Sustainable Innovations for a Better Future

Gran Prize 2018. Photo credits: Csaba Molnár

The Gran Prize Innovative Interdisciplinary Award in Hungary celebrates and rewards outstanding innovations that address the most pressing environmental and societal issues of our planet. This year, Sigma Technology sponsored the prizes for prominent scientists of nowadays and supported the organizers in its own field – by developing a micro-website for this year’s call for entries.

Established by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary in 2012, the Gran Prize Award is annually awarded to creators of innovations that aim to solve issues in the field of environment, sustainability, design, medicine, health preservation and development, and education. The big idea behind the award is to stimulate innovative thinking aimed at improving the quality of life and further Swedish-Hungarian cooperation. So, entry to the Gran Prize is open to every progressive company and private person in Hungary.

Sigma Technology Hungary values the initiative of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary and has supported the Gran Prize since 2014. This year we have decided to make one more step in promoting the significance of innovations in the area of sustainable development. We have developed a micro-website for this year’s call for entries to help more people and companies apply for the award. The website has a neat and elegant design and is easily available from mobile devices. Its purpose is to gather all the information about the award in one place and make the application process easy and straightforward.

Many outstanding entries were submitted for evaluation of the judging panel. With sustainability in focus, the jury has selected two winners to share the Gran Prize Award this year. The winning entries were:

The removal of organic halogen compounds from wastewater

It was a decade ahead of European Union efforts that the University of Miskolc, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and EGIS Pharmaceuticals, with the collaboration of Dr. Péter Mizsey, embarked on the joint research project that would result in the development and successful implementation of this entirely new and innovative process. The novel invention permits not only the removal of halogen compounds from industrial wastewater but also the full recovery and recycling of organic halogen compounds in concentrated form, facilitating closer adherence to the principles of circular economy.

WaterFilm Technology® roof cooling

István Weeber, the creator of WaterFilm Technology®, became involved with atomizing sprinkler systems for flat-roofed manufacturing plants at the request of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics Thermophysics Laboratory in relation to the summer heat protection problems of a Csepel paper mill. His now-patented invention is especially relevant since EU guidelines for 2020 prescribe energy savings of 20%, with particular reference to the use of power for cooling and air conditioning. “WaterFilm Technology®” is the first true evaporative rooftop cooling technology based solely on the principle of heat carried away by vaporization. The technology results in significant savings in cooling energy and requires less water than other similar systems.

György Nagy, Country Manager at Sigma Technology Hungary and Vice President of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, says:

“We believe that sustainable development is the driving force of today’s society. We are honored to be the Gran Prize contributor and have a chance to meet the innovators of tomorrow.”

Read more about Sigma Technology CSR activities at sigmatechnology.com/about/sustainability

For more information, contact gyorgy.nagy@sigmatechnology.com.

About Sigma Technology

Sigma Technology is a part of Sigma Group and is a global supplier of product information, embedded solutions, and offshore development. We are experts with a passion for technology and information, and take pride in delivering quality and constantly improving our deliveries. Our philosophy is “Local Drive – Global Strength”, therefore we have offices worldwide to be close to our customers.

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