Apple-prize for Dutch eco tuk tuks

RNW, 18 November 2010

Apple founder Steve Wozniak has awarded the first Wozzie at the Science & Technology Summit 2010: Meet the future in The Hague. The prize for the best science idea went to four students from the HAN University of Applied Sciences, who jointly designed the Eco Tuk.

Apple-prize for Dutch eco tuk tuks

The Eco Tuk is an environmentally friendly variant of the traditional tuk tuk, the popular motorised transport which makes a substantial contribution to the serious smog in many Asian cities. The four students have developed a kit with which the motorised rickshaws can very easily be converted to direct LPG injection. The conversion reduced fuel conversion by 40 percent. Pollution is reduced proportionally. The Wozzie prize includes a sum of 10,000 euros.

The other two nominees were the smart phone application AllAroundMe - designed by Reza Ladchartabi from the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Sciences - which enables the user to put together their ideal day out, and the three-dimensional rehabilitation game Vogels! (Birds!), for elderly people suffering from one-sided paralysis.

The Wozzie Award was created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to stimulate creative scientific talent. The prize already existed in the United States, but this is the first time it has been awarded in the Netherlands.

"Tuk Tuk", Bangkok, Thailand