A prize of €1-million is the world’s biggest technology award and is given by the Millennium Prize Foundation, an independent Finnish fund, every second year. Founded and funded by Finnish organisations, Finnish industry and the Finnish State in partnership, the objective of the Millennium Technology Prize is to promote technology’s role in improving the quality of life and enhance Finland’s reputation as a high-technology country. The inaugural Millennium Technology Prize was presented to Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, in June 2004.

Professor Shuji Nakamura, winner of the 2006 Millennium Technology Prize, is the inventor of a revolutionary new light source – bright blue, green and white light-emitting diodes (LED) and a blue laser.

Nakamura’s inventions are having an extensive impact in many areas that improve the quality of life and promote sustainable develop- ment. Applications that have already been developed using the technology he invented can reduce energy consumption, bring reading lights to the outermost areas of developing countries, sterilise water in a more efficient and cheaper way, and store data in much smaller spaces.

A native of Japan, Nakamura is currently working in the US, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He says: “Using LEDs for lighting could halve the amount of electricity consumed for this purpose.“ The President of the Republic of Finland, Tarja Halonen, handed Nakamura the prize of €1-million and ‘Peak’, the prize trophy. In his speech of thanks, Nakamura congratulated Finland on its support for human technological development, which improves the quality of life. According to Nakamura, we have only just begun to explore the vast number of opportunities presented by applications using LEDs and lasers. “I hope the award of this prize will help people to understand that this invention makes it possible to improve the quality of life for many millions of people. This is not just a source of light that makes enormous energy savings possible, but it is also an innovation that can be used in the sterilisation of drinking water and for storing data in much more efficient ways.” As LEDs can be powered by solar panels, lighting can be provided in remote areas of developing countries. In his speech, Nakamura said that he would be donating part of the prize money to organisations that promote the use of LED lighting in such locations.

Dr Jaakko Ihamuotila, chairperson of the Millennium Prize Foundation, says that sustainable energy supplies, climate change and the availability of clean water are challenges that touch us all. “New technologies are essential in the search for solutions,” says Ihamuotila. “It is in this spirit that the Millen-nium Technology Prize is awarded every second year to an innovator who has developed new technology that significantly improves the quality of human life and promotes sustainable development.” Nakamura met, during his stay in Finland, Finnish researchers, company representatives and members of the public. He spoke to the Millennium Youth Forum in the Finnish science centre, Heureka, and, in the same location, made a public presentation on the subject of LED technology. At the Dipoli Congress Centre, he made an in-depth presentation to technologists and other professionals. This event was also open to the public.

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