Britain’s top women inventors and innovators to be named in Cardiff on March 11

Added: (Mon Mar 03 2008)

Pressbox (Press Release) - The tenth British Female Inventors & Innovators Network’s Exhibition, Conference and Awards Ceremony takes place in Cardiff this year and the 2008 winners will be announced there on 11 March. Judging has already started and Britain’s top female inventors and innovators will line up for their glittering prizes at a gala dinner at the end of the two-day conference and exhibition at Cardiff City Hall.

The range and variety of this year’s entries is already making an impression on the team sifting through the entry forms. “The energy and dedicated hard work that these women have put in to turn their ideas into real products has to be seen to be believed,” said patent attorney Sue Ratcliffe, one of this year’s judges. “Some of them come across as extremely determined, to the extent of giving up jobs and borrowing heavily to get to this stage. Now that this event has been running for ten years, I’m sure the success of some of the early winners, such as Mandy Haberman with her Anyway-Up Cup, must have helped inspire and give confidence to many of this year’s entrants.”

For the first time, the British Female Inventors & Innovators Network’s event is sponsored this year by the Welsh Assembly Government. Two of the Assembly’s representatives, Phillip Allen (Senior Programme Manager for Technology, Science and Innovation for Business) and Dr Virginia Chamber (Development Director) will open the event on the morning on Monday 10 March. The two-day programme promises to be action-packed and fun-filled, with presentations and demonstrations from previous award-winners, round-tables on topics such as how to get IP (intellectual property) protection, a performance by students from the Cardiff School of Music and even a fashion show of eco-friendly designs choreographed by Contour designer Adebayo Jones.

CIPA, the professional organisation for patent attorneys, is supporting the event by providing two of the judges, Sue Ratcliffe, of Coller IP Management, and Gill Whitfield, of Astrum-IP Limited, based in Newport, Wales. “Interestingly,” says Gill Whitfield, “the entries include quite a range of inventions, from domestic products through to medical devices and more complex technical inventions. Most appear to have resulted from solving a problem which has been personally encountered by the inventors themselves. As a patent specialist, I find it reassuring that so many inventors seem to be aware of the importance of patent rights and have taken steps to secure patent protection for their inventions at an early stage in the development process.”


The organisation’s founder and chief executive Mrs Bola Olabisi looks forward to another group of award-winning inventions that will make a positive difference to many people’s lives. “GWIIN prides itself on being the leading organisation for bringing inventive women into the spotlight. We’re grateful this year for the help of our sponsors, whose support for our vision provides this platform for us to continue to highlight the achievements of women with bright, innovative ideas that contribute to the quality of life for so many.”

- ends -

For further information, contact:

Bola Olabisi, GWIIN. Tel: 020 7749 4834 email: office@gwiin.com

Global Women Inventors & Innovators Network (GWIIN)
The Shoreditch Building,
35 Kingsland Road,
London E2 8AA

CIPA:
Peter Prowse Tel: 01372 271234, mobile: 07973 213039,
email: peter.prowse@waylines.co.uk