Dear all
This month we would like to draw your attention to our 2020 WMF Start Up Challenge as we are calling all Start Ups dedicated to developing solutions in Using Materials Smarter, Less and Longer to apply by February 16th 2020. Nominees will meet and connect in Nancy with game changing professionals, have the opportunity to grow their business and to compete for above €100 k in equity free prizes.
The general news of the month is obviously the chemistry Nobel Prize for the development of the lithium ion battery - see Science News, October 9th.
Also this month 2 very interesting reports one from the EU analyzing the role of raw materials in reaching sustainable development goals and one by Queensland University raising the risk for bulk materials to become also critical if no innovation in the mining industry.
Some great news from research as well with the biggest 3D printed boat at University of Maine, a prototype ultra thin & flexible battery at ETH Zurich, some cheap catalyst for producing hydrogen at at SLAC and Stanford and some new material for capturing CO2 and transforming it in polyurethane at University of Kyoto.
Not to forget a variety of sustainability initiatives with the no1 of a Berlin monthly series of posts with initiatives going on in a Smart City to engage inhabitants in a more sustainable life and with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste partnering with Plug & Play to create a start up accelerator.
Finally some good news coming from our WMF start ups with Aerosint "again" (Belgium), Imagine "again" (Australia), Opus 12 "again" (USA), and also BComp (Switzerland), Carbios (France), Citrine (our Grand Prix 2017, USA), FredSense (Canada) and Mosaic Materials (USA).
And for the 1st time one of our below 25 is in the news with Cecile Floer receiving the Young Talent Award from the L'Oreal UNESCO Foundation.
