The Displaying Futures award was presented for the first time by Merck on September 21st. The aim of this award is to identify new applications for Merck materials and to support the further development of these materials. Koen Nickmans, PhD candidate within the Functional Organic Materials and Devices chair, together with Marios Chryssolouris, a consultant at Ernst & Young, won this prestigious award.

Koen and Marios are developing “fresh strips”, a technology that changes color to indicate whether foods or medical supplies have been exposed to excessively high temperatures and can still be consumed or used, based on technology developed within SFD. By winning the Displaying Futures Awards they receive exclusive mentoring from experts within and outside of Merck, gain access to a global network, as well as financial support. This year, the jury decided to support each of the winning teams with US$ 50,000.