The Jury

Projects are evaluated by a Jury. The Jury is composed of a President and other scientists of international reputation who carry out their duties as individuals and not as representatives of an institution or country.

Members of the Jury are selected to cover the following scientific disciplines:

• Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Earth Science
• Engineering
• Information/Computer Science
• Mathematics
• Physics

Two additional Guest Jury Members serve on the Jury. Presently these positions are filled by: Dr. Kevin Kahn, INTEL Fellow and Director of Communications at INTEL's Communication Architecture Laboratory in Hillsboro, Oregon and Mr. Pantelis Kyriakides, Vice President of the European Patent Office in Munich. The current President of the Jury is Professor Pauline Slosse of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Members of the Jury including the President, are chosen on the basis of scientific criteria. They are drawn from both academia and industry. They are appointed each year by the European Commission. Normally, up to one third of the Members of the Jury are replaced each year. A European Commission scientific officer serves as the secretary to the Jury and is responsible for the operation of the EU Contest.

President of the Jury

Professor Pauline Slosse
Université Libre de Bruxelles,

Studied Chemistry at the Université Libre de Bruxelles where she obtained her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry. Her thesis work concerned the characterisation by physico-chemical methods of alkaloids extracted from plants and the synthesis of their analogues. After her Ph.D. she co-ordinated for six years general chemistry practicals for engineering students. Since 1990, Dr. Slosse has been working at the Centre Universitaire de Didactique pour l'Enseignement de la Chimie (CUDEC) of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She develops computer based chemistry lectures using multimedia technology and is also responsible for supplementary tuition in chemistry for first year undergraduates at the university. Her teaching responsibilities offer her the possibility to monitor the learning strategies of the users of the multimedia lectures and to gauge the impact of multimedia on learning skills.

Jury Members

Professor Vera Adam-Vizi (Life Sciences)
Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest

Studied Medicine at Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest and undertook her postdoctoral training at the Semmelweis University and at King's College, London. Currently she is Director of the Department of Biochemistry at the Semmelweis University of Medicine, and a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Her major research interest is to do with how the molecular mechanisms involved in the hypoxic/ischemic brain damage provide a possible means to protect the brain against oxidative stress. Professor Adam-Vizi teaches Biochemistry to medical students, Neurochemistry to Ph.D. students and has recently edited a textbook on Medical Biochemistry.

Dr. Dan Bradley (Life Sciences)
Trinity College, Dublin
Studied Genetics at the University of Cambridge. He received his Ph.D. from Trinity College, Dublin. His graduate research focused on the molecular genetics of the inherited eye disorder, retinitis pigmentosa. postdoctoral research was also carried out in Dublin where he has now been a faculty member for eight years and teaches in a broadly-based Genetics Department. His current research interests are in molecular genetic diversity, particularly in cattle. Dr. Bradley participates in several international collaborations including the co-ordination of one that is investigating the genetic basis of trypanosomiasis resistance in West African cattle. Also, detecting and interpreting the patterns left by the past in modern genes has allowed him to interact closely with archaeologists investigating, among other things, the origins of farming. Relevant techniques include the retrieval of ancient DNA sequences from bones up to 10,000 years old.

Professor Maria Kaminska (Physics)
University of Warsaw

Studied Physics at University of Warsaw. She received her MS, Ph.D. and habilitation degrees from University of Warsaw. Her graduate research focused on transition metal impurities in AII-BVI semiconductor compounds, and on influence of these impurities on optical properties of semiconductors. She spent two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA and three years at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, working on defects and impurities in semiconductors, especially on the main (EL2 - arsenic antisite) defect in GaAs. All her studies are in close connection with applications of semiconductors. The recent research is focused on nitride compounds, important for blue and ultraviolet optoelectronics, as well as for high temperature and high power electronic devices. She has started doping of GaN with Mn impurity and studies of magnetic properties of such material that seems promising in application in spintronics. Professor Kaminska has different lectures, classes and labs in all courses for undergraduate and graduate students. She also supervises MS and Ph.D. students. Her main interests besides physics are music and medicine.

Professor Cor van Kruijsdijk (Environmental Science)
University of Delft

Studied Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology and specialised in atomic physics. After leaving academia in 1985, he joined Shell Research and was introduced to flow through porous media. He worked for Shell Research for 9 years including a 5-year assignment in Calgary. In 1993 he was appointed to the chair of reservoir engineering at Delft University of Technology. His current research activities include most dynamic processes both in the shallow (ground water, pollution etc.) and deep (geothermics, petroleum etc.) subsurface that are related to fluid flow. Professor van Kruijsdijk longs for the Rocky Mountains and its wildlife, but enjoys working with the young people that form the ever changing and challenging population of universities.

Professor Liv Lunde (Engineering Sciences)
Research Director of Institute for Energy Technology( IFE), Norway

Studied Technical Chemistry at Gothenburg Institute of Technology, Sweden. She is Research Director responsible for the petroleum sector at the second largest research institute in Norway. IFE is focusing on applied research, and is working in close cooperation with the industry. Out of the 2000 budget of 400 million NOK, less than 25% was from public grants. Professor Liv Lunde has been involved in research for almost 40 years at IFE. She is well accustomed with engineering topics in general and have been head of departments working on multiphase flow in oil and gas production on one side and mathematical modeling of metallurgical processes on the other side. Much of the work under her leadership has been sponsored by international companies in the nuclear, process, chemical, and petrochemical fields. Her main technical interest and preferred research areas have been metals corrosion and metals application. The corrosion group in this institute has specialized in designing tests and adequate equipment to solve specific corrosion problems encountered by the industry. She has more than 100 publications, and received 3 international awards for her work. In private she is much interested in outdoor activities, preferably cross country skiing and mountain hiking.

Dr. Tuija Pulkkinen (Physics)
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki

Studied Theoretical Physics at the University of Helsinki. She obtained her Ph.D from the University of Helsinki in the field of space physics while already working in the Space plasma physics group at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. During her graduate and postdoctoral years she spent several periods at the Goddard Space Flight Center in the US. She was also a Fulbright scholar at the University of Colorado in Boulder from 1996-1998. She was awarded the American Geographical Union James B. Macelwane Medal in 1998 and the City of Helsinki Science Award in 1999. Dr Pulkinnen is presently the head of the Space plasma physics group at the Finnish Meteorological Institute and advises several undergraduate and graduate students. Her main areas of scientific interest are within space plasma physics, the coupling of the ionosphere and the magnetosphere, especially using magnetic field modeling techniques. She has published more than 100 scientific articles.

Professor Luisa Rossi Costa (Mathematics)
Politecnico di Milano

Studied Mathematics at the University of Milan. After her Ph.D. she followed lectures and courses at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and the Istituto di Alta Matematica in Rome. Since October 1970 she has been engaged in teaching at the Faculty of the Politecnico of Milan, where at present she is Professor of Mathematical Analysis. She first developed research in Numerical Analysis, on variational problems and on calculating complex eigenvalues. Her interest then changed to Functional Analysis and to solving problems connected to partial differential equations of parabolic type. She also has studied inverse or illposed problems in order to determinate an unknown surface, an unknown coefficient in the heat equation and a metric in geophysics. The purpose of these studies has been to find stable solutions in a suitable functional space. Professor Rossi Costa has done research also into teaching methods in collaboration with the University of Louvain-la-Neuve and now she takes part in the creation of lessons for a first-level degree in Engineering via the Internet. She likes classical music, arts, climbing and skiing in the mountains.

Professor Stephen Sparks (Earth Sciences)
University of Bristol

Studied Geology at Imperial College, London where he received both a BSc and PhD. After postdoctoral research fellowships at Lancaster University and the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island in the USA he started work in 1978 as a lecturer in Geology at the University of Cambridge. In 1989 he was appointed Professor of Geology at the University of Bristol. His research interests are in volcanology and application of fluid mechanics to understanding geologically important flows. He developed these research interests through a combination of theoretical models, laboratory experiments and field studies of active volcanoes in Iceland, Greece, Italy, Chile and the Caribbean. Recently he was Chief Scientist at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory in the West Indies during the recent volcanic eruption. Professor Sparks was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1988 and has received a number of awards and prizes for his work on the fundamental physics of volcanic phenomena.

Dr. Elisabeth Stiller-Erdpresser (Information/Computer Science)
Siemens Austria

Studied Physics at the University in Vienna and graduated with a Ph.D. Since then she has been with Siemens. Starting in the business unit for program and system development as a project leader for international automation systems she later became the head of a software development department. Currently she is responsible for the department of Interactive Media Systems within the business unit Audio and Video systems, her special interests there are connected with marketing and product planning. For several years this department has been working on leading edge technologies for media content management systems and this involves extensive work with an international development team that is distributed right across Austria and the USA. Dr. Stiller-Erdpresser is also one of the founding members of the University of Applied Sciences for Telecomunication and Media, St. Poelten.

Guest Jury Members

Dr. Kevin Kahn
Director of Communications Architecture Lab INTEL, Hillsboro, Oregon

Studied Computer Science at Purdue University where he completed his Ph.D. in 1976. Since he has been with Intel Corporation. He is an Intel Fellow, the corporation's highest technical position, and currently the Director of Communications Architecture of Intel Architecture Labs. He helps drive communications strategies and policy for the corporation. Some of his primary current focuses are broadband access to the home, wireless Local Area Networks, home networking, and Internet issues bearing of these topics. He also chairs the Intel Communications Research Council, which oversees research activities between Intel and academic programs. He is a panel member for a National Academy of Science study, a member of the FCC Technical Advisory Council, a member of the National Science Foundation Engineering Advisory Council, and a past board member for the DSL Forum. Most recently before his current assignment, Dr. Kahn developed and managed a 100+ person communication lab. This laboratory was responsible for both generic communications research applicable to PC industry in increasing the usefulness and ubiquity of the PC, as well as specific work in support of various product groups. Throughout his twenty five year career in Intel, he has worked in system software development, operating systems, processors architecture, and various strategic planning roles on programs involving most of the processors Intel has developed during the period. He has held both management and senior individual contributor roles. For the past dozen years, he has focused his interests on communications technology issues, as they have become increasingly critical to Intel and the PC industry. He holds multiple patents in processor architecture and communications technologies. He represents Intel in various industry consortia, and has lectured widely at Universities about Intel and personal research activities. He also is active in representing the corporation in various government policy forums.

Mr. Pantelis Kyriakides
Vice-President of the European Patent Office, Munich.

Studied Telecommunications at the University of London. Following an initial two years working as a project team leader with a major electronics company he moved into the area of patents, firstly as an examiner at The UK Patent Office, and then at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. In addition to a technical background in telecommunications and television, he has substantial experience of assessing inventions across the entire field of electro/mechanics and physics, and an extensive knowledge of European patent law. In recent years he has held a variety of technical, training and managerial posts within the EPO. Many of these posts have involved the in-house development and exploitation of IT, as a result of which Mr Kyriakides has a particular interest in software and hardware systems for workflow applications. He was nominated as a Vice-President of the EPO in 1999, in which role he is responsible for all matters relating to the search, examination, granting and opposition of European Patents. When not involved in the present-day of inventions and patents he enjoys immersing himself in the more ancient arts of numismatics and philately.

Members of the Alumni Jury

Tracking the subsequent careers of the Contest's former contestants is never an easy task. But the Contest certainly has over the years seen many of its former contestants go on to achieve further scientific success. In 1997 the Contest started the Alumni Prize to both keep in touch with some its past prize winners and to show yesteryear's winners what is being achieved at the Contest today.

This year the Contest is delighted to welcome back Bernardo Carmo, Jane Feehan and Jan Oeyulvstad who respectively took the top prizes at the 9th EU Contest in Milan in 1997 and at the 6th EU Contest in Luxembourg in 1994. They have been given €1200 to provide for either up to three prizes of €400 or one prize of €600 and two of €300. This they will present to the project that in their opinion is best in terms of its a) visual display b) oral explanation.

Bernardo Carmo (Milan 1997)
Bernardo became gripped by science after reading Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov and Gene Roddenberry books. An avid Nature reader since his early school days, he organised his college's first Science and Astronomy Clubs, and started up an annual Science Fair. In 1995, he built an interactive model of the International Space Station that won several prizes in Portugal, as well as representing his country at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Tucson, Arizona. In 1997, he won a 2nd prize at the EU Contest for Young Scientists in Milan for a novel data acquisition and control system, which is now being used for teaching in Portugal's IST/Lisbon Technical University. Following his musical interests and his choir's performance along with the UK's prestigious Hilliard Ensemble he decide to study in England. At the University of Southampton, he studied Aerospace Engineering, and later changed course and wrote a thesis on Electrical Impedance Tomography. He is currently studying Engineering at the University of Cambridge, England, where he is taking a Ph.D. on Three-Dimensional Medical Ultrasound, and is also forging research links with the University Hospital in Cambridge.

Jane Feehan (Luxembourg 1994)
Immediately after the EU Contest for Young Scientists in 1994, Jane embarked on a Biological Sciences degree at Oxford University. She graduated in 1997, and went on to do an MSc on Biodiversity and Taxonomy at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London. During her time at Imperial Jane became interested in environmental policy, and the following year she began a PhD in Trinity College, Dublin, focusing on agri-environmental policy in Ireland. Specifically, she is researching the impact that Ireland's agri-environment scheme (the Rural Environment Protection Scheme) is having on biodiversity on farmland. The research involves plenty of fieldwork - Jane enjoys spending lots of time out of doors doing practical ecological research. Jane has done a Stage (in-service training) in the European Commission, working in the Agriculture Sector in DG Environment. Following the completion of her Ph.D. in 2002, Jane hopes to remain within the area of environmental policy.

Jan Ivar Oeyulvstad (Luxembourg 1994)
Jan's project was entitled "Flood Prevention in the River Otra in Southern Norway" won second prize at the Contest in 1994. The model he reviewed in his project has been applied in river Otra in Norway since 1993 and has led to stronger and more effective flood protection in Mosby, his home village, and the region nearby. Now Jan is in his last year of studies at the University of Munich, and has been running his own company, Naviolab Media Solutions, since 15 April 1999. The company deals with designing and developing Internet/Intranet Websites and applications along with B2B consulting in the Internet business in Germany and Norway. Right now he is working on a project named NAPEX, a Content Management/ASP software platform soon to be finished and to be released in August 2001. Currently he is studying Communications at University of Munich, and is meanwhile taking Computer Science and Psychology as minors.