King Felipe and Queen Letizia have traveled to the Principality of Asturias to hand out National Prizes for Innovation and Design.
On Monday, 13th February, Their Majesties, accompanied by the Minister of Science and Innovation Diana Morant, arrived at the Niemeyer Centre in Avilés, Asturias, where they were welcomed by local authorities, including the President of the Principality of Asturias, the Mayor of Avilés and the General Director of the Niemeyer Centre, among others.
The ceremony was opened by the Minister of Science and Innovation, who gave a speech, and the projection of a video about the award recipients.
It was then time for the King and Queen to take to the stage to hand out the awards, which are given in three categories for Innovation (Innovative Trajectory, Big Business, Small and Medium Business), the categories in Design (Professionals, Businesses, and Young Designers), as well two Special Mentions – one for Design in the Professionals category, and one for Innovation in the Innovative Trajectory category.
More specifically, the awards were handed out as follows:
- Innovation – Innovative Trajectory: the prize went to Ms Rocío Arroyo Arranz for her work in the application of new technologies in the early detection of cancer, especially colon cancer.
- Innovation – Big Business: the prize went to multinational SACYR for their work towards building green hydrogen technologies, with the objective of making an increasing number of cities around the world carbon-neutral.
- Innovation – Small and Medium Business: the prize went to Marine Instruments for their work in building technologies that could help the usually-traditional sector of tuna fishing perform their tasks in line with green requirements. They export their products to more than 30 countries around the world.
- Design – Professionals: the prize went to Ms Inmaculada Bermúdez Cózar for her work in creating sustainable clothing without sacrificing any of the “elegance, quality and Mediterranean identity” that characterize her work.
- Design – Businesses: the prize went to ENEA, a 40-years-old furniture design company that has become a model for sustainability in both the materials used and the employees’ treatment, all while maintaining their signature style.
- Design – Young Designers: the prize went to Ms Alba González Álvares for her work in the field of biomedical research and biomechanical prosthetics, as well as her fight for more interdisciplinary collaborations to better support patients that need her work.
- Special Mention Design – Professionals: Aragón Digital Services (Servicios Digitales de Aragón, or SDA) received this prize for creating an innovative model to bring together administrations and citizens through technologies that still carry the human factor.
- Special Mention Innovation – Innovative Trajectory: Mr Emilio García García received this award for being the indisputable leader in research and innovation in the train sector, especially when it comes to construction materials. (It is interesting to note that in 2022, Spain has seen the opening of at least 3 new high speed train lines within its own territory, for which King Felipe was present).
Following the awards ceremony, the King and Queen listened to a roundtable discussion titled “Reflexions on innovation and design”, which saw interventions from award recipients Rocío Arroyo, Inmaculada Bermúdez and Alba González.
It was then time for the King to give the speech that closed the event; in it, her remarked that “the effort of your daily work materialises in projects that imply and advancement, an evolution, a progress, in a lot of domains that are beneficial for all citizens”.
The Prizes are awarded on a National basis, which means that a lot of the jury members are high ranking officials in State entities that conduct research in those domains. Interestingly, only three of the eight prizes have a monetary compensation; the other five are awarded on an honorary system.
