En 
Da
The winners of the Bright Idea Award 2024 can now continue to develop their dazzling ideas.
On Wednesday 30 October, the Otto Mønsted Foundation had the great pleasure of unveiling the winners of the Bright Idea Award 2024 in front of the audience at the Startup Stage during the Nordic region’s largest deep-tech fair, Digital Tech Summit, in Øksnehallen in Copenhagen.
This year was the sixth time that the foundation honoured and awarded some of the most talented researchers and entrepreneurs with a total sum of DKK 550,000. Recognising that it is difficult for young entrepreneurs to raise funds when their ideas are still in development, the foundation has for a number of years contributed with this prize pool to get promising ideas in their teens to accelerate faster for the benefit of society and Danish business.
Meet the winners
The Bright Idea 2024 award was presented in two categories – best late-stage idea and best early-stage idea. The winners in the two categories each received DKK 250,000 and were presented with a bronze statuette by board member Vibeke Svendsen. As something special this year, the jury also chose to award a runner-up prize of DKK 50,000 and offer mentoring sessions.
Winning ideas for innovation in construction, electronics and energy infrastructure
The winner of the best idea in the late-stage category was Maryam Homayounzadeh, Postdoc, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Aarhus University. She has developed groundbreaking artificial intelligence in microcontroller chips. The jury found that with her product GreenELBO (Green Electronic Boards), she has convincingly demonstrated a solution that eliminates a number of the components used in a normal printed circuit board while reducing the size of the board. The winning idea can therefore make a significant contribution to reducing the ever-growing amounts of electronic scrap andCO2 emissions, as well as an opportunity to reduce the need for scarce metals.
The winners of the Bright Idea in the early-stage category were Luise Charlotte Dennin and Annika Bang Thomsen, MSc students in Civil and Mechanical Engineering and Design and Innovation, respectively, at DTU.
With the slogan “Circrete builds tomorrow’s cities with yesterday’s concrete”, this year’s winner in the early-stage category has addressed one of the major problems with the reuse of concrete in the construction industry. The winning idea Circrete presents a unique solution for reusing existing concrete slabs from storey partitions, making it attractive for the construction industry and investors to implement reuse. The jury found that the winning idea has significant commercial potential and the winners’ solution will bring about a greater degree of sustainability in the construction industry through reduction in resources, waste andCO2 emissions.
Runner-up prize of DKK 50,000 and mentoring hours
This year, the jury chose to honour another bright idea with a runner-up prize of DKK 50,000. Nicolaj Haarhøj Malle received the diploma in front of the stage on behalf of the entire team – Frederik Falk Nyboe, Viet Duong Hoang, Thor Kamp Opstrup, Anders Schack Madsen and Emad Ebeid from Digital and High Frequency Electronics, University of Southern Denmark.
At a time when drone-based services are growing rapidly globally, the team’s idea for flying robotics for the energy sector is an important contribution to the future and safety of drone operations. The jury found the development of drones that can tap energy on the fly when performing tasks in energy infrastructure so interesting and with such solid business potential that the idea had to be rewarded with a runner-up prize. The cash prize also came with the opportunity for five mentoring sessions with entrepreneur and co-founder of SatCom1, Karina Bergstrøm Larsen.
Technology with a green movement
Once again this year, the Otto Mønsted Foundation has experienced great interest in The Bright Idea and both the number of applications and the quality have fully lived up to the jury’s expectations.
“We can only be very confident when we see the inspiration and creativity combined with high-tech insight that researchers and students contribute. It’s a great pleasure to be able to reward the good ideas with a financial boost. It brings us closer to the important goals of a higher degree of sustainability in the construction sector, reduction in scrap waste and resource extraction, and energy-saving flying robot technology. The common thread in this year’s submissions continues to be green – thankfully. Because that’s what we as a society and business need,” says Vibeke Svenden, board member of the Otto Mønsted Foundation.
Read more about The Bright Idea Award
All this year’s nominations have been assessed by:
Kigge Hvid, partner, JA studio
Ole Kring, partner, EIFO Bjarne Kjær Ersbøll, Professor DTU Compute and member of the Otto Mønsted Foundation Board
Jesper Højberg Christensen, adjunct professor at CBS
Nis Alstrup, Chairman of the Board of the Otto Mønsted Foundation
Karina Bergstrøm Larsen, Director, Q-Consulting
Christian Brix Tillegreen, Senior Business Developer, Bioinnovation Institute
Nigel Edmondson, CEO, MADE
Vibeke Svendsen, board member of the Otto Mønsted Foundation
How The Bright Idea has created value for previous award winners