Neste congratulates the winner of the 2018 Millennium Technology Prize, Dr. Tuomo Suntola
Neste Corporation news 22 May 2018
Neste would like to congratulate Finnish physicist, Dr. Tuomo Suntola, the winner of the Millennium Technology Prize, announced on 22 May 2018. The prize sum is EUR 1 million. Neste has been one of the main partners of the Millennium Technology Prize since 2006.
Tuomo Suntola’s prize-winning innovation, Atomic Layer Deposition, ALD is a nanoscale technology in use all over the world. It is used to manufacture ultra-thin material layers for microprocessors and digital memory devices. The technology allows building of complex, three-dimensional structures one atomic layer at a time.
Components with thin films made with ALD technique are used in computers and smartphones. With the constantly evolving ALD technology, the devices are smaller and cheaper, but at the same time more efficient.
The winning innovation is seen to have potential in many technology sectors. Research has yielded promising results with manufacturing ALD thin films for medical instruments and coating implants. ALD technology can be used to improve the efficiency of solar panels, LED lights and lithium batteries for electric cars.
"After a long career, it's great to see that the work done was not in vain. I am particularly pleased to receive the Millennium Technology Prize now when the significance of the ALD technology has been proven in many applications important to people", says Suntola.
Tuomo Suntola worked over a decade at Neste
Tuomo Suntola worked from 1987 to 1998 as a Managing Director of Microchemistry Ltd, subsidiary of Neste and later Fortum. The company was founded for the research of the use of ALD in surface chemistry, catalysts and solar cells. Lars Peter Lindfors, Neste’s Senior Vice President of Technology worked as a researcher at Neste in the beginning of 1990’s in a cooperation with Suntola and researchers of Microchemistry. The subject of cooperation, as part of the Lindfors dissertation, was the production of catalysts with ALD technology.
"Tuomo Suntola is a real scientist character. In addition to extensive theoretical knowledge, he is curious, forward looking and encourages to innovative research", says Lindfors and continues: "Research is long-term work with uncompromising. It has been realized in Tuomo Suntola's decades-long work, which results we can now benefit.”
Further information: Lars Peter Lindfors, Senior Vice President, Technology tel. +358 50 458 3605, lars-peter.lindfors(@)neste.com
Neste in brief
Neste (NESTE, Nasdaq Helsinki) creates sustainable solutions for transport, business, and consumer needs. Our wide range of renewable products enable our customers to reduce climate emissions. We are the world's largest producer of renewable diesel refined from waste and residues, introducing renewable solutions also to the aviation and plastics industries. We are also a technologically advanced refiner of high-quality oil products. We want to be a reliable partner with widely valued expertise, research, and sustainable operations. In 2017, Neste's revenue stood at EUR 13.2 billion. In 2018, Neste placed 2nd on the Global 100 list of the most sustainable companies in the world. Read more: neste.com
Millennium Techlogogy Prize
The international Millennium Technology Prize was awarded in Helsinki on 22 May 2018. The Millennium Technology Prize is a Finnish one-million-euro award presented every second year in honour of a pioneering technological innovation that improves people’s quality of life and promotes sustainable development. The winning innovations must have extensive positive social impacts, be commercially viable and promote the welfare of humanity. The Millennium Technology Prize is awarded by Technology Academy Finland.
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