Japanese-born University of California Professor Shuji Nakamura and Indian-born University of North Carolina Professor Jayant Baliga have received the Global Energy Prize for this year.
The awards were presented at a function on Friday during the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum.
Global Energy Prize is given in recognition of outstanding scientific research and scientific-technological developments.
The awardees are selected on the basis of their contribution to improving the effectiveness and ecological security of the Earth’s energy sources in the interests of humanity.
Professor Nakamura has been selected for his invention of the blue LED source which helped develop energy-efficient white-LED illumination. He has already received the Nobel Prize for Physics for the invention in 2014.
And Professor Baliga is being recognized for the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor he invented. The invention is playing a key role in managing and distributing electric energy and is one of the founding elements of the Smart Grid. It could improve the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and sustainability of electricity use.
Baliga had won the US National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2010.
Since 2003, 33 scientists from 10 countries have received the Global Energy Prize. In 2015, the prize was worth 33 million rubles (about $558,000).
The award was established in Russia with the support of Russia’s leading energy companies: Gazprom, Surgutneftgaz and the Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy System.
The Global Energy International Award Committee selects the laureates. The committee comprises 25 leading scientists from 13 countries.
The list of nominations for this year included names of more than 2,800 scientists from 60 counties.
Ajith Kumar S