【英语国际】印度净水器获得“亚洲创新奖”金奖

An inexpensive water purifier aimed at households that may not have electricity took this year's top prize in The Wall Street Journal's Asian Innovation Awards.

Nearly 300 entries came in from the region, with the Journal's independent panel of judges selecting 12 finalists. From them, they chose the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, as well as the Credit Suisse Technopreneur of the Year.

The judges reviewed entries looking for products and services that break with conventional processes in creative ways. Kenny Tang, chief executive of Oxbridge Weather Capital and the head judge for the awards, said his criteria also included real-world benefits in Asia.

'The important criteria for me is the use, in the practical sense, that it could be,' he said. 'That's been a clear feature of the winners, not just this year but in recent years as well.'

Another judge, Rosemary Tan, whose company Veredus Laboratories Pte. Ltd. won the Gold award in 2006, said these awards help organizations further their work. 'People really look at your technology more seriously because it's been recognized, it's been judged,' she said.

Tata Chemicals Ltd.'s filter, called Swach, the Hindi word for 'clean,' won the Gold award. It uses natural components such as rice-husk ash, a byproduct of polishing rice, and attaches to a water-storage unit to purify water. When its filtration capabilities are exhausted, it prevents water from passing through, a safety measure designed to keep unsafe water from being accidentally consumed.

'We are privileged to be working in this space,' Sabaleel Nandy, head of the company's water-purifier business, said. 'The demand in India is very huge. There are over 250 million households, and we would like to make sure that they have a purifier that will save them from waterborne diseases.'

Swach costs 999 rupees ($22.50), and Tata expects to sell one million units this year. It is now considering taking the device to other markets, such as Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, Mr. Nandy said.

Functional MicroArray, a drug-delivery device made of tiny needles, won the Silver award for Suzhou Natong Bionanotechnology Co., while PassWindow, an authentication method for online accounts, took the Bronze. Microsoft Corp.'s Engkoo online dictionary won the Readers' Choice Award, determined by votes on WSJ.com.

Natong founder Bai Xu said he is receiving more interest from major pharmaceutical and cosmaceutical companies in the U.S., and is also looking to get into the European market. 'We will probably have a few deals regarding different products' in the coming year. Currently, Natong's LiteClear acne treatment is in use in China.

PassWindow creator Matthew Walker said, 'The whole world is searching for a solution to this problem.' The Singapore firm is in talks with banks and government security departments that are interested in the method, he said, and is launching a personal online service for individual customers as well.

Intuitive Automata Inc. won the Technopreneur award, which honors an entry that best applies technology with the greatest potential for commercial success, for its weight-loss robot, Autom.

'All the finalists highlighted are doing interesting and very useful work,' said co-founder Cory Kidd. 'It's an honor to be considered part of this group.' In the coming months, Intuitive Automata is raising capital and rolling out Autom to the U.S. market. He said other programs are still in progress, including managing type II diabetes and improving medication adherence.

The device's mix of health-care relevance and biotechnology cut 'across so many boundaries,' Veredus's Dr. Tan said. 'I felt the technology should be applauded.'

一款价格适中、无需用电的家用净水器摘得今年《华尔街日报》“亚洲创新奖”(Asian Innovation Awards)桂冠。

本次创新奖共有来自亚洲近300项产品参赛，《华尔街日报》独立评审组评选出了12项产品进入决赛，再从12项决赛产品中评出了金、银、铜奖和瑞信(Credit Suisse)2010年度科技企业奖(Technopreneur of the Year)。

《华尔街日报》亚洲创新奖得主评委审议了参赛产品，希望从中找到打破常规、有创意的产品和服务。Oxbridge Weather Capital公司首席执行长兼本届创新奖总评委Kenny Tang说，他的评选标准也包括是否能给亚洲地区带来切实利益。

他说，对我来讲，一条重要的评选原则就是产品的实用性，这已成为本届获奖产品的突出特点，而且不光是今年，近几年的评选标准都是如此。

还有一位评委是Rosemary Tan，其公司Veredus Laboratories Pte. Ltd.获得2006年创新奖金奖。她说，获奖可以帮助得奖公司进一步推进其工作，正因为公司得到了认可，产品受到专家鉴定，人们才会更加重视公司的技术和产品。

塔塔化学公司(Tata Chemicals Ltd.)名为“Swach”的净水器摘得金奖，“Swach”在印第语中意指“洁净”。净水器利用稻糠和生产抛光大米的副产品等天然物质制作而成，可附着在储水装置外面，达到净水目的。如果净水器的过滤能力失效，水流就不会从净水器中流过，这是防止不安全水被意外饮用的一个安全装置。

塔塔化学公司净水业务主管南迪(Sabaleel Nandy)说，从事这个行业我们感觉十分荣幸，印度对净水器的需求很大，印度有超过2.5亿个家庭，我们希望能确保每个家庭都可以用上净水器，这样他们就可避免患上水源性疾病。

净水器售价999卢比(合22.5美元)，塔塔化学公司预计今年其销量可达100万部。南迪说，公司正考虑将该净水器推介到别的市场，如非洲、东南亚和拉丁美洲等。

苏州纳通生物纳米技术有限公司的“纳米微针技术”(Functional MicroArray)获得银奖，这是一个由微针做成的施药装置。网上账户认证方法PassWindow获得铜奖。根据《华尔街日报》网站(WSJ.com)的投票结果，微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)网上字典英库(Engkoo)获“读者喜爱奖”(Readers' Choice Award)。

纳通的创始人徐百说，公司受到了美国大型制药和化妆品公司的更多关注，公司还希望进入欧洲市场。他说，围绕公司的几项产品明年可能达成一些交易。目前纳通推出的粉刺治疗方法LiteClear正在中国使用。

PassWindow的发明人沃克(Matthew Walker)说，全世界都在寻找验证网上账户身份的解决办法。这家新加坡公司正在与对该方法感兴趣的银行及政府安全部门洽谈，同时公司也正在推出面向个人用户的个人网上服务。

Intuitive Automata Inc.因其减肥机器人Autom获科技企业奖，该奖项表彰的是很好地运用了最有商业成功潜力技术的公司。

Intuitive Automata Inc.的创始人之一吉德(Cory Kidd)说，最后入围决赛的公司它们所做的工作都非常有趣，实用性也很强，入围决赛本身就是一种荣誉。Intuitive Automata将在未来几个月集资并将机器人Autom推向美国市场。他说，其它项目也仍在进行中，包括管理II型糖尿病和提高药物依从性的装置等。

Veredus Laboratories Pte. Ltd.公司的Rosemary Tan说，这个机器人是医疗保健和尖端生物技术的结晶，我认为应为这项技术喝彩。