Leading women inventors from Sweden, Canada, U.S., U.K., Finland, Iceland, Italy, Estonia, Africa and France got together at the Global Female Invent 2003 ceremony held at Cafe Royal, London. Three Indian women were honored at the event for their innovations and the commitment to overcome barriers and challenges relating to getting new ideas to market.

Dr. Seema Prakash, Founder Director of Bangalore-based InVitro International was among the Top Ten Women Inventors for 2003. She was recognized for a novel advancement in the area of plant tissue culture. Invitro’s Glass Bead Liquid Culture Technology promises better yield from plants. “We take cells from good plants, cloning them and producing a new breed of plants. For example, cells of the best cardamom plants have been cloned to yield close to two kilograms per plant in place of the usual 50 grams per plant. And so with bananas,” says Dr Prakash.

Dr Eladevi Shah, a resident of London, won an award in the individual inventor category for devising new herbal compositions useful in treating skin disorders. Shah has treated over 12,000 patients and she is now attached to the Edgware General Hospital in London.

Rama Anand from Delhi also won an award in the individual inventor category. She has been recognized for innovating the process of manufacturing 100% eco-friendly furniture and decorative items by reutilizing used and discarded automotive tyres that are essentially non-biodegradable.

Rama Anand is now looking for joint venture partners in Britain to market her products and her ideas abroad.