Top prize for ‘light’ inventor
A
Japanese scientist who invented environmentally friendly sources of
light has been awarded this year’s Millennium Technology Prize.
Professor
Shuji Nakamura was given the 1m Euro (£680,000) prize at a ceremony in
Helsinki, Finland.The award recognised his inventions of blue, green
and white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the blue laser diode.White
LEDs could provide a sustainable, low-cost alternative to lightbulbs,
especially in developing countries.His other inventions such as blue
LEDs are used in flat-screen displays, while blue lasers are already
being exploited in the next generation of DVD player.”Professor
Nakamura’s technological innovations in the field of semiconductor
materials and devices are groundbreaking,” said Jaakko Ihamuotila,
chairman of the Millennium Prize Foundation.
White light
The
Millennium Technology Prize is the world’s largest technology award,
equivalent to the Nobel Prizes for science. It recognises technological
developments that have a positive impact on quality of life and
sustainable development.It is awarded every two years. The first prize,
awarded in 2004, was presented to Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the
World Wide Web.Receiving the award, Professor Nakamura said: “I hope
the award of this prize will help people to understand that this
invention makes it possible to improve quality of life for many
millions of people.”This is not just a source of light that makes
enormous energy savings possible, it is also an innovation that can be
used in the sterilisation of drinking water and for storing data in
much more efficient ways.”As LEDs are more robust than traditional
lightbulbs and use relatively little power they can easily be combined
with solar panels to provide lighting in remote areas of developing
countries.In his speech, Professor Nakamura said he would donate part
of the prize money to organisations that promote the use of LED
lighting in such locations.Professor Nakamura is based at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, where his research into new
sources of light continues.