Millennium Technology Prize gains visibility worldwide

Michael Grätzel

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Swiss Professor Michael Grätzel (b. 1944) has won the 2010 Millennium Technology Prize for the invention and development of third-generation dye-sensitized solar cells known as ”Grätzel cells”.
      President Tarja Halonen handed the Grand Prize of EUR 800,000 and the prize trophy to the professor at an award ceremony at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki on Wednesday.
     
The technology of the solar cells is based on artificial photosynthesis of plants.
      The cells are made of low-cost materials and do not need an elaborate apparatus to manufacture. Hence Grätzel’s innovation is a promising alternative to standard silicon photovoltaics.
     
The 2010 Millennium Prize gained various levels of visibility worldwide.
      For example the British Broadcasting Company BBC and the US Cable News Network CNN both reported on the news extensively on their websites.
      The major German newspapers also released the piece of news. The weekly magazine Die Zeit called the prize ”The Nobel of Engineers”.
      Nevertheless, none of the five British quality broadsheet newspapers regarded the Millennium Technology Prize as a newsworthy item.
      At the same time, the Chinese China Business News published an article on the Swiss Millennium Laureate on Thursday. The news was released even by Indian media.
      Reporters from China, India, South Korea, and Europe had been invited to Finland by the Technology Academy Finland, an independent foundation established by Finnish industry in partnership with the Finnish government.
     
It goes without saying that in Michael Grätzel’s home country of Switzerland, several media outlets were excited about the Grand Prize of EUR 800,000, while in France, for example the daily newspaper Le Figaro also reported on the award in its news coverage.
      Michael Grätzel is a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, where he directs the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces.
      The two other 2010 Millennium Laureates, Sir Richard Friend and Stephen Furber, were each awarded prizes of EUR 150,000 and trophies.
      The Millennium Technology Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for innovation and is given every second year by the Technology Academy Finland.
      Previous winners are Tim Berners-Lee (2004), Shuji Nakamura (2006), and Robert Langer (2008).


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Millennium Technology Prize awarded to Robert Langer for intelligent drug delivery and tissue regeneration (12.6.2008)

Links:
  Millennium Technology Prize (Wikipedia)
  Michael Grätzel (Wikipedia)

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