Kandou and Osmoblue finalists of the ACES Award 2013

The ACES, now in their fifth year, are the only pan-European awards for enterprise in university and public research institutes. They give public recognition to those researchers, engineers, professors, students and government officials in Europe who have done the most to foster a culture of enterprise on campus. This can be through taking the risk of launching a spinout company, developing a discovery into a marketable innovation, or promoting policies that create a receptive environment for entrepreneurship on campus. They draw nominations from all sectors, disciplines and countries in Europe, and are judged by the Science|Business Innovation Board, a leadership panel co-founded by Science|Business, business schools INSEAD and ESADE, in association with Microsoft and BP.

Recently eight finalists of the Award were announced. Two of them are from Switzerland: Kandou Bus and Osmoblue.

Kandou Bus is a semiconductor company specializing in the design of high-speed, pin-efficient, energy-efficient serial links, SerDes, and associated technologies. The company, founded in 2011, has developed a unique approach to serial link design that increases the bit-rate and the reach for a given physical communications link and reduces the power consumption. As a result, more bits can be sent per unit of energy, or less energy can be used to achieve a given bit rate.

OsmoBlue provides a sustainable and profitable solution to industries to recycle their waste heat. OsmoBlue's patented technology converts low-temperature heat, as low as 30°C, into electricity. The system is scalable and can produce hundreds of kW of electricity. OsmoBlue's products can recycle heat from various types of industries such as data centers, incinerators, chemical plants, oil refineries, etc.