The European Patent Office launched the "Young Inventor Award" for the first time to encourage young people to innovate

Artificial intelligence-powered waste sorting systems, biodegradable hygiene products, Parkinson's detection kits: the European Patent Office has for the first time distinguished innovations from inventors under 30, AFP reports in Paris.

The European Patent Office headquartered in Munich announced the finalists of the "Young Inventor Award" on the 24th. They are from Brazil, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States. They will know who will win the award on June 21.

According to reports, the European Patent Office established the "Young Inventor Award" this year, aiming to encourage young people to innovate and devote themselves to solving global problems such as the environment and health.

According to reports, 25-year-old Belgian Victor de Wilfe and 27-year-old Briton Peter Hedley have invented an automatic system that can increase the conveyor belt of waste recycling processing centers with the help of optical waste recognition systems and a robotic sorting arm. The proportion of waste that is sorted increases, making recycling more economically profitable.

Raffael de Bona Goncalves, 25, from Brazil, was nominated for developing biodegradable sanitary napkins and tampons made from discarded banana or bamboo fibers. The young researcher, who graduated in product design from Pranam Federal University in 2020, looks at homeless women to address their lack of access to hygiene products, sanitation and waste management.

Finally, Erin Smith, a 22-year-old neuroscience student from Stanford University in the US, has created an app based on facial expression recognition for the early detection of Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. The app, called "Faceprint," has been tested on a large scale at the Stanford School of Medicine. The European Patent Office states that its disease prediction accuracy is about 95 percent and can help delay the development of severe symptoms (tremors and difficulty walking) through early management of the disease, which affects about 10 million people worldwide.

According to the report, the European Patent Office stated that the final winner will receive a prize of 20,000 euros. The second and third places will receive €10,000 and €5,000 respectively.