Videos pre-finalist 2023

The pre-finalists for the Innovation Award, the Amsterdam competition for innovative ideas that contribute to a better world.

Visit the showcase pages to see each pre-finalists showcase their idea through a personal video.

Universities
HvA UvA VU Amsterdam UMC ACTA

Barbara Braams (VU): The big Hoe?Zo! Show questions book

Barbara Braams (VU): The big Hoe?Zo! Show questions book a book to involve children in science and teach them scientific skills Children are naturally curious and ask a lot of questions. ‘Why do fish have scales and people don’t?’ ‘Why is it warm during summer and cold during winter?’ Unfortunately, not all children grow up […]

Emitzá Guzmán (VU): Software Revolution

Emitzá Guzmán (VU): The Best Ends by the Best Means: Bringing Ethics into Software Computer software is full of ethical problems. It manipulates voters, discriminates by people’s gender, race or social standing, raises enormous privacy problems and is often designed to be highly addictive. Very slowly, Parliaments and Congresses around the world are catching up […]

Ewelina Weglarz-Tomczak (UvA): Lysosomal protease inhibitors for Alzheimer’s

Ewelina Weglarz-Tomczak (UvA): Novel lysosomal protease inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease Highly specified proteases are the key regulators in the molecular mechanism of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. AI-powered technology developed by NatInLab has led to the discovery of how those proteases are controlled in the human organism. Based on this knowledge, developing novel, […]

Imran Avci (VU): COMB-O

Imran Avci (VU): Disposable, ultra-sensitive optical biosensors for early cancer diagnosis (COMB-O) In the last decade, cancer has become a silent pandemic as it is the second leading cause of death globally. Early diagnosis is critical for successful treatment, and therefore we urgently need sensitive, specific and affordable solutions. The development of optical biosensors that […]

Job Calis (Amsterdam UMC) and Mark Hoogendoorn (VU): IMPALA

Job Calis (Amsterdam UMC) and Mark Hoogendoorn (VU): IMPALA: Innovative Monitoring system for PAediatrics in Low-resource settings: an Aid to save lives. Each year, more than 3 million children die in poor countries. At least half of these deaths can be prevented by early recognition, before patients deteriorate. In Europe, patient monitors are used to […]

John van der Kamp and Boris Lancelot (VU): Lentala

John van der Kamp and Boris Lancelot (VU): Rom & Lupa designed by Lentala: school furniture for active sitting Today, children move too little and sit too much, especially a school classrooms. Prolonged passive sitting is a risk factor for poor physical health and low mental well-being. The human body has evolved to move and […]

Lavinia Bodale (VU): SightShare

Lavinia Bodale (VU): SightShare Imagine you’re missing out on the friendship and on the life experiences that make game nights unforgettable. SightShare is a game changing device that breaks barriers, enabling visually impaired and blind individuals to participate fully in card and board games. Thanks to the help of machine learning, the device recognizes different […]

Mădălina Rîurean (VU): Madglove

Mădălina Rîurean (VU): Madglove- helping people get a grasp on spasticity. Over 40 million people in the world struggle with hand spasticity, creating pain and making it difficult for them to do simple daily tasks. Madglove is creating low tech, accessible, home rehabilitation solutions, to give back people their independence. Through co-creation with end users […]

Matteo Mazzanti (UvA): Novel quantum logic gates architecture

Matteo Mazzanti (UvA): Novel quantum logic gates architecture with trapped ions and optical tweezers There are complex problems that classical computers struggle to solve. For example, route optimization, drug design, and material discovery all require extraordinary computational power. Quantum computers are central in the solution to this problem. However, today’s quantum computers are difficult to […]

Pepijn van Rutten (VU): Respira

Pepijn van Rutten and Edcel Salumbides (VU): Respira: a laughing gas breath sensor to reduce accidents on the road Traffic accidents caused by driving under the influence of laughing gas have increased more than ten-fold in the past few years. This leads to more than 100 severe injuries and sadly, more than 20 deaths in […]