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WRECK-FINDING INVENTION PUTS HAMPSHIRE WOMAN IN CONTENTION FOR INVENTION PRIZE
Added: (Thu Jan 31 2002)
An invention for locating wrecks on the seabed could win a Hampshire woman the first ever Woman Inventors in Industry title at the British Female Inventor of the Year Award in London on 7 February.
Susan Phillips, Director of Echopilot Ltd in Ringwood, a marine electronic development company, has developed Wreck Finder to help fishermen and divers identify the nature of objects on the seabed. Fish tend to congregate by wrecks and divers often want to find hidden treasures in vessels that have sunk.
Susan and her team used their own patented Forward Looking Sonar technology in combination with mine-hunting technology from DERA to build a system smaller and cheaper than anything else on the market. The project took a year from start to finish and the product is now on sale.
It is the technology inside the Wreck Finder that makes it so unique, explains Susan: “The equipment uses ‘classifier’ software in the equipment making it easier to distinguish between natural and artificial objects on the seabed. The classifier examines the echo signal for 16 key features.”
Susan is one of several inventors competing for the first ever Women Inventors in Industry prize at the British Female Inventor of the Year Awards event and a share of up to £20,000 worth of prizes. Founder of the awards, Bola Olabisi says of the entrants: “It will be fascinating to see who wins the award because the inventions touch on many aspects of science, engineering and technology. The diversity shows that women can be active in all areas of innovation. We hope that the finalists will be an inspiration to young females everywhere to consider science, research & technology as career options.”
Melvyn Rees of The Patent Office says: “The great range of skills showcased at the event will offer budding woman inventors an insight into the exciting projects you can work on if you take up a career as a researcher.”
For more information on the event, please see the British Female Inventor of the Year website www.bfiy.com or write to British Female Inventor of the Year, PFWN, 4 Waverley Gardens, Barking, Essex IG11 0BG.
For more information about patents, trade marks, design registration and copyright, please see The Patent Office website at www.patent.gov.uk or contact The Patent Office Central Enquiry Unit on 08459 500505.
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Issued by Prowse & Co on behalf of The Patent Office.
For more press information, please contact:
Deborah Fields or Vicki Fletcher at Prowse & Company on 01372 363 386 or e-mail at deborah@prowse.co.uk or vicki@prowse.co.uk
Editor’s Notes
· The British Female Inventor of the Year is awarded to an inventor who has come up with an original product or process.
· The British Female Innovator is awarded to an inventor who has spotted a gap in the market and started to market her product or process to fill that gap.
· The winner of the British Female Inventor of the Year 2001 was Clare Newton with the Cuptake cupholder.
· Ann Kritzinger won the Female Innovator 2001 category with the Doubleback Multiple Copy Short-Run Bookbinding machine.
· Damini Kumar for her Non-Drip Spout for teapots and other pouring vessels won the Young Female Inventor of the Year 2001.
News release is available online at
http://www.prowse.co.uk/newsf.html
31 January 2002