Abstract
Innovation Convention 2011
The Innovation Convention, held in Bruxelles on December 5–6, 2011, was an essential part of the Innovation Union flagship initiative.
The Innovation Convention 2011 was led by the President of the European Commission, Mr. José Manuel Barroso, and Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation, and Science. It was Europe's premier innovation event, with more than 1,200 selected participants.
The event also featured an area dedicated to career opportunities and advice for researchers on key innovation issues such as patents, IPR, and venture capital, as well as an exhibition of innovative EU-funded research. We continue in this issue with the description of the selected projects that represent the most innovative European projects (Star Projects).
Star EU-Funded Research and Innovation Projects (Part 5)
41. SFWA (Smart Fixed Wing Aircraft): Creating the next generation of eco-friendly aero-structures
For the next generation aircraft, higher laminar performance is considered to be one of the key elements to reduce air resistance, increase overall performances, and reduce CO2 emissions. In the SFWA project within Clean Sky, the EU research programme for the greening of aeronautics, an Airbus A340-300 will be fitted with new outer wing sections to demonstrate an entirely new designed natural laminar flow wing. In the project, Aernnova has developed a monitoring system, PAMELA SHMTM, that detects in real time damages and defects on such wings, reducing manufacturing and maintenance costs.
Miguel Á. Castillo Acero,
42. SGL for USaR: Technology for life
The project “Second Generation Locator for Urban Search and Rescue Operations” (SGL for USaR) aims to provide technological support to ensure the most effective use of the time available to rescue teams to find victims trapped in collapsed buildings following disasters such as earthquakes or explosions.
Find out more about the project at our stand where our prototypes will be shown, including FIRST, a portable device that integrates sensors, images, sound, and chemical analysis for the early location of entrapped people.
Milt Statheropoulos,
43. SHIPARRESTOR: Stopping drifting ships from turning into disasters
How do you prevent a drifting tanker or other disabled vessel from ending up on a beach or offshore oilrig? By using a new tool developed for the emergency services—the ShipArrestor. In case of engine failure, fire, or similar incident, a large tanker will quickly start drifting sideways rolling violently in the process. This tool is 100% helicopter applied and consists of a chain lasso for connecting to the anchor. A demonstration of a real life situation using video, photos, and interactive displays at the exhibition will highlight the achievement of designing and constructing a tool for these scenarios.
Nicolai Michelsen,
44. Standpoint: From models in the bath to generators in the ocean
The aim of the Standpoint is to demonstrate the design, deployment, installation, commissioning, and operation of a new-to-the-world wave energy convertor in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the Portuguese coast. The world's oceans provide an immense and unlimited natural energy resource, and wave power is the process of capturing some of that energy and putting it to work, that is, to generate electricity.
At the stand, visitors will be able to witness various prototyping approaches from the past years, including scale models, sea trials, tank tests, computer simulations, and mathematical modeling.
Dr Patrick Hartigan,
45. SuperLIGHT-Car: Lighter cars for less fuel consumption
SuperLIGHT-Car has achieved 35% weight savings in the body structure of a regular car, which would reduce its fuel consumption needs. The project paves the way for more energy efficiency and CO2 reduction in vehicles. A multi-material approach was used where each car body part was made from an efficient application of lightweight materials to fulfill the requirements, including aluminium, new steels, magnesium, and reinforced plastics.
Visitors will be able to see a prototype of a realistic full-scale lightweight car design, verified on an existing Golf-V car body.
Dr. Jens Meschke,
46. SUPRA: Helping pilots to handle the unexpected—New simulation concepts
Whenever airplanes get into upsets, such as unusual attitudes or stalls, flight crews have to act swiftly to ensure the safety of the flight. In order to familiarize pilots with such situations and provide them with a toolset for successful recovery, flight simulators need to reproduce upset regimes accurately. As current training simulators are limited to normal flight conditions, SUPRA is developing new methods to reproduce aircraft behavior in upset situations and advanced concepts, providing the pilot with the unusual forces present in abnormal situations.
Come and test our flight simulator!
Lars Fucke,
47. TEMPUS_G: GEMs—Games for Enhancing Movement
Age-related declines in movement performance can often prevent participation in sport and physical activity. GEMs are games that harness the power of patterns of visual and auditory information so they act as catalysts for improving movement performance.
At our stand, visitors can try our Wii GEMs: bespoke balance-based games specially designed to improve both balance control and confidence in older adults. Those interested in golf can try our Golf GEM: an audio-visual golfing device aimed at improving the consistency and timing of a golf stroke. Results from studies will also be presented.
Cathy Craig,
48. V-City: Virtual cities in 3D
The V-City FP7 project, which regroups world-class experts in 3D modeling, computer vision, and virtual reality, presents a revolutionary system for the rapid and cost-effective 3D reconstruction and interactive visualization of massive urban environments, including indoors, with unprecedented quality and performance.
The V-City Map Table takes a new leap towards holographic tactile surfaces by displaying 3D images of these architectural and geographic environments to multiple viewers for the first time. Each viewer can see the environment from her/his own point of view and interact with intuitive hand gestures.
V-City Office,