BERLIN: Taiwan has emerged as the top winner at the 2009 Nuremberg Invention Exhibition, capturing 26 gold medals, 26 silvers and 15 bronzes, plus the coveted team championship, at the conclusion of the fair Sunday.

Amid tight competition, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology in southern Taiwan won three golds with a high-performance accelerometer, uricase enzyme biosensors, and methods for fabricating a chlorine ion sensing membrane.

The Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan, Far East University and National Chin-Yi University of Technology each won two golds.

Meanwhile, the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology earned a special award, conferred by invention associations of Hungary and Poland, for an innovative power generation and storage system that uses both solar and wind power.

An invention by National United University students that can help reduce automobile exhaust emissions attracted the interest of a German company that has approached the student inventors to negotiate a possible technology transfer.

Drawn from 22 universities, colleges, and high schools, the team was the biggest ever from Taiwan at the show.

The younger members of the team also performed well, taking two gold medals for their ingenious presentations. Huang En-tien, a student from National Taichung Industrial High School, won gold for his invention of a multifunction umbrella.

Two students from Ming-Dao High School in Wu-Ji, Taichung County also received a gold medal for their invention of a special glue bottle device.

Many researchers from the Instrument Technology Research Center under the National applied Research Laboratories, as well as several private inventors, also won gold medals and other accolades for their innovative instruments and devices in memory chip examination and multimedia transmission systems.

A total of 800 inventions from 34 countries and regions were on display in 12 exhibition halls, all of which were packed with visitors during the four-day event that ended Sunday.

Organizers of the world's oldest annual invention show said this year the numbers of exhibitors and visitors were the largest in the event's 61-year history.

Kao Fa-yu, founding president of the Taiwan Prominent Inventor Association who led the Taiwan delegation, said the event provides a platform for inventors from around the world to showcase their creativity and seek business opportunities for their novel products.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/10/2009 page2)