Taiwan inventors won big at the British Invention Show 2010 held Oct. 13 to 16 in London, topping the medal talllies of all 15 participating nations at the U.K.’s largest innovation expo.
Taiwan’s delegation grabbed a total of 12 gold and two silver medals, as well as the event’s top invention award and diamond, platinum and double-gold awards. It marked Taiwan’s best performance at the British Invention Show in the past four years.
The Taiwan delegation, made up of 11 companies, academic institutions and organizations, entered a total of 19 inventions in the event.
Taiwan-based Cotron Corp. was the big winner this year, taking home the top invention award and a diamond award for its 5.1-channel, 8-driver surround sound headphone system for gamers. The company also won a platinum award for another one of its entries—a wireless audio and video player.
Winning double-gold award for Taiwan was an entry on the application of microfluidic technology by I-Shou University led by Yang Chi-hui, head of the Department of Biological Science and Technology.
Chen Tsung-tai, chief executive officer of the Taiwan Invention Association, who headed the delegation, said the judges were surprised by the innovative products created by Taiwan’s younger entries.
“Taiwan has a lot of creativity and good ideas, which are hard to come by,” Chen said. “These young inventors are Taiwan’s future hope and source of competitiveness,” he added.
A panel of 25 judges from the British Inventor’s Society judged the entries from around the world based on their ecological and social benefits to humankind, as well as their design, ingenuity and originality. (SB)