Canatu founder receives UNESCO Nanosciences Medal, while his company wins Gold in the German Design Awards 2019

 

On 22 November, Prof Esko Kauppinen, founder of the Finnish Company Canatu, was honoured with the UNESCO Nanosciences Medal. All of the awardees are established leaders in their fields, and Esko Kauppinen is the first Finn to receive the medal. The award was presented to Kauppinen in recognition of his significant contributions to the development of nanosciences and nanotechnologies. His research focuses on carbon nanomaterials and carbon nanobuds, and he has published approximately 150 research articles in these fields. Canatu originates from Aalto University’s Nanomaterials Group, where Kauppinen and his research group studied carbon nanotubes – the name Canatu is derived from the studied material.

Furthermore, Canatu has been awarded with a Gold prize in the German Design Awards 2019 competition in the Automotive parts and Accessories category. The award was granted for the excellent product design of the Canatu Cockpit and its outstanding design quality.

The statement of the jury reads: “The futuristic looking Canatu cockpit combines advanced technology with a highly elegant design that has been magnificently executed, from the cockpit’s dynamic lines to the intuitive user interface of the displays.  The result: a superb controller-based function system featuring tactile feedback, sensors and high-quality materials – a design that is consistent down to the last detail, creating an intriguing user experience.”

The goal of the award is to discover, present, and honour unique trends in design. All winners are selected during a two-day jury meeting. This year there were more than 5400 entries presented to the jury.

“The Gold award in this international design competition is a great honour to Canatu. We have been creating innovative and high-quality concepts of smart 3D touch surfaces with our partners. We believe, the technologies of the future can be created already today, combining design freedom and intuitive user experience”, said Juha Kokkonen, Canatu’s CEO.

Caption: Esko Kauppinen with the UNESCO Nanosciences Medal (photo: Aalto University)