“We have certainly made progress in the area of patent filing for innovation findings. The number of research patents filed this year is 6 times the number it was a few years back” said Dr. Thaweesak Koanantakool, President of NSTDA. “Patent filing is one of the key basic components in innovation process and is becoming a strategic necessity for research institute such as NSTDA”. Dr. Thaweesak was speaking to NSTDA researchers during the NSTDA: Inventor’s Day 2011 ceremony on May 19 organized by NSTDA, TMC, and TLO. For the 2011 budget a total of 144 patents have been filed of which 14 patents are from NANOTEC.

In addition to giving recognition to researchers who have filed for research patent, NSTDA also presented the NSTDA Technopreneur Prize 2011 to two research groups from Thammasat University that have participated in the Lab2Market project and have competed in international events. The two projects are; DeepScan Project (early detection of cervical cancer), and Smile Floss (pure silk dental floss).

Several recognitions were also given to NSTDA researchers in the area of NSTDA Commercialization Award 2011.