First Ben Feringa Impact Award awarded

The projects that won the Ben Feringa Impact Award in 2020 have received their awards. The prize is divided into two categories: one for researchers and one for students. The winning project in the category for researchers is ‘Ocean Grazer’, by Wout Prins, Antonis Vakis and Bayu Jayawardhana. The winning project in the category for students is ‘Ivy One’, by Niels Weijermars. The University of Groningen established the Ben Feringa Impact Award to highlight the exceptional achievements of researchers and students in the field of knowledge utilization.

Winning projects in the field of Science and Engineering

Last year the selection committee unanimously selected two winning projects and two honourable mentions. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the award ceremony had to be postponed multiple times and the decision was made to bring the awards to the winners. The prize for the researchers has been presented by the rector, Cisca Wijmenga. Remco Kouwenhoven, director of the Ubbo Emmius Fund, presented the prize to Niels Wijermars. The Ubbo Emmius Fund is a sponsor of the student prize.

The winning project in the category for researchers is ‘Ocean Grazer’, by Wout Prins, Antonis Vakis and Bayu Jayawardhana of the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The Ocean Grazer harvests renewable energy from sea waves and integrates this with a modular solution for the large-scale storage of electricity that is generated by wind turbines and floating solar panels at sea. As a result, clean energy can be generated under all weather conditions. The mechanism is based on technology from a hydroelectric plant, technology that has been proven to be highly reliable and efficient for over a century. The Ocean Grazer has now attracted its first investor and also recently won the CES innovation award, in the Sustainability, Eco-Design & Smart Energy category.

The winning project in the category for students is ‘Ivy One’, by Niels Weijermars of the Faculty of Science and Engineering. He developed an equipment which enables patients so that they no longer have to walk through corridors, tackle hurdles and manoeuvre themselves in busy lifts while dragging their portable IV drip stands. The Ivy One by Ivy Medical can be worn as a shoulder bag and offers high wearer comfort and optimal flexibility during IV treatment. This results in more freedom of movement for patients and lower work pressure for nurses and healthcare assistants.

Ben Feringa Impact Award

The aim of the Ben Feringa Impact Award is to value the activities of academics and highlight the link between the UG and its societal environment. The selection committee will meet shortly to assess the nominations for the BF Impact Award 2022, which will be awarded in the spring of 2022.