Rector’s Award for the best innovation 2021 for EASE

The traditional Rector’s Award for the Best Innovation of the University of Ljubljana promotes innovation at the University of Ljubljana and helps innovators on their way to the market. The competition was divided into two categories: 1st category of students and alumni and 2nd category of researchers employed full-time at the University of Ljubljana. The three most emphatic in each category received acknowledgements and prizes (1st place 3000 euros, 2nd place 2000 euros, 3rd place 1000 euros). The Rector’s Award is a joint project of the University of Ljubljana (UL) and the Ljubljana University Incubator (LUI).

In the category of researchers, the Rector of UL, prof. dr. Gregor Majdič awarded the 2nd place prize to a group of entrepreneurs consisting of dr. Luka Lorbek, Luka Porenta, Klemen Hvala and prof. dr. Andrej Kitanovski for the innovation called EASE – an advanced system for cooling electronic devices.

EASE is an advanced cooling system with greater cooling capacity compared to existing technologies. It is primarily intended for cooling electronic equipment that is currently water-cooled. These are the most thermally demanding devices, such as high-end processors, graphics cards and IGBT modules. The invention is based on an innovative thermodynamic cycle that allows about 300 % more heat to be dissipated than a comparable water cooler. In this way, it could be more compact and cool the equipment to lower temperatures. It is designed so users can switch to this technology by replacing just two components of an existing water cooler, so it can also upgrade existing water-cooling systems. Besides cooling electronic devices, it could also cool lasers, batteries in electric mobility and other applications where water cooling is used.

The Rector of UL, prof. dr. Gregor Majdič concluded by saying: “Congratulations to all the award winners. I hope and believe that all presented innovations will contribute to societal progress and social processes.”