Irish inventor and entrepreneur Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh was today announced as a winner of this year’s European Inventor Award.

The Kilkenny native received the award in the SMEs category at a ceremony in Paris, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, hosted by the European Patent Office (EPO) and attended by some 600 guests from the areas of politics, business, intellectual property and science.

She is the first Irish inventor to receive the award since its first edition in 2006 and is one of four women inventors being honoured with the 2018 award, the highest number ever since 2006.

Ni Dhulchaointigh was recognised for her invention of Sugru, a malleable glue with both the adhesive properties of super glue and the pliability of rubber.

Named after the Irish word for ‘play’, Sugru is used around the world to successfully repair and personalise virtually any everyday item.

"By enabling us to more easily fix and improve the things we own, Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh encourages us to take a more sustainable approach to our possessions and reduce waste as a consequence," said EPO President Benoît Battistelli.

A Magic Material

As a Royal College of Art student in London in 2003, Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh realised that as a product designer she was contributing to the world's waste problems rather than solving them. One day, while playing with a mixture of silicone and wood dust, she discovered the material not only bounced when rolled into a ball, but had strong adhesive properties.

Teaming up with husband James Carrigan and UK entrepreneur Roger Ashby, Ní Dhulchaointigh worked with a pair of retired silicone scientists and materials specialist Tom Dowden to develop Sugru.

In 2007, after more than 8,000 lab hours and a patent from the EPO, the new glue was launched.

Today there are Sugru users in 175 countries, and they have fixed more than 15 million things.

The European Inventor Award is presented annually by the EPO to distinguish outstanding inventors from Europe and around the world who have made an exceptional contribution to social development, technological progress and economic growth.

The winners were chosen by an independent international jury from more than 500 individuals and teams of inventors put forward for this year's award.