With the application deadline fast approaching (22 October, 23:00 GMT), today we’re announcing the Inventor Prize judges; an expert panel, who’ll use their real life and professional experience to help us shortlist the 10 most promising inventions to go through to the final stage.

We know that people across the UK have ideas that, with a bit of support, could be developed into fantastic products that would help improve people’s daily lives. However, accessing support is not always easy. That’s why the Inventor Prize will not only financially support finalists but will also help inventors to develop their business expertise and the technical aspects of their products.

Meet our judges

We’re expecting a broad range of products to be submitted – from pens that are easy to use for people with physical disabilities, to groundbreaking devices that can help us reduce energy consumption. So how can we compare such a variety of ideas  to make sure we select the right candidates to go through to the final stage of the prize?

Our judges have a range of personal and professional experience and expertise  –  some are inventor themselves, and some spend their lives and careers supporting inventors in their product development journey.

The judging panel will make tough decisions based on our judging criteria to ensure the selected products have potential to be innovative, impactful, desirable and marketable.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our judges for their involvement and support of the prize:

• Ana Avaliani, The Royal Academy of Engineering

• Ian Brotherston, Innovate UK

• Sarah Drinkwater, Google Campus

• Christopher Haley, Nesta

• Claire Mitchell, Chillipeeps Limited

• Alex Papanikolaou, Freedom One Life

• Tom Tobia, Makerversity

• David Wardell, The Institute of Patentees and Inventors

You can read more about them here.

What’s next?

Inventors can submit their applications right up until the deadline of 22 October 2017 (23:00 GMT). After the deadline, all the entries will be reviewed and assessed against the judging criteria. The judging panel will then meet to discuss and select the 10 finalists who will be announced in early December 2017.

Visit our website to learn more about the Prize and how to enter.