International recognition for WLAN technology

By May 3rd, 2012

The CSIRO team that invented a faster system for wireless local area networking – which later became the foundation of Wi-Fi in its most popular form today – has been named as a finalist in the European Inventor Award 2012.

Inventors Dr John O’Sullivan, Dr Terry Percival, Mr Diet Ostry, Mr Graham Daniels and Mr John Deane have been nominated in the ‘Non-European countries’ category of the annual awards for the patented WLAN technology, The technology, which has given us the freedom to work wirelessly in our homes and offices, is now estimated to be in more than three billion devices worldwide and expected to be in more than 5 billion devices worldwide by the time the CSIRO patent expires at the end of 2013.

“This is a great recognition for an invention that has transformed the way we work and live. We’re delighted that the inventors are being recognised through nomination for this award”

Nigel Poole, CSIRO’s Acting Group Executive for Information Sciences.

This is only the second time in the history of the award that an Australian team has been named as a finalist.

“This is a great recognition for an invention that has transformed the way we work and live. We’re delighted that the inventors are being recognised through nomination for this award,” said Nigel Poole, CSIRO’s Acting Group Executive for Information Sciences.

“Australians can be proud that the rapid global expansion of indoor wireless communications is in part possible because of the WLAN technology invented by scientists at CSIRO.”

The EIA is presented in five categories: Industry, Research, SMEs, Non-European countries and Lifetime Achievement.
Fifteen finalists have been selected, from almost 200 inventors and teams who were originally nominated, by an international jury comprising leading personalities from industry, science, politics and media.

Winners of the 2012 EIA will be announced during an award ceremony in Copenhagen on 14 June.

About the European Inventor Award (EIA)

Launched in 2006, the European Inventor Award is presented annually by the European Patent Office, in co-operation with the European Commission and the country which holds the EU Council Presidency at the time of the award ceremony, which this year is Denmark. The award honours inventive individuals and teams whose pioneering work provides answers to the challenges of our age and thereby contributes to progress and prosperity. Nomination proposals are submitted by the public and by patent examiners at the EPO and Europe’s national patent offices. The finalists and, subsequently, the winners are chosen from among the nominees by a high-profile international jury, which includes prominent personalities from politics, business, media, science, academia and research.

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