Famous

ESTONIAN  INVENTIONS  &  THEIR  INVENTORS :

1. SKYPE  -   Software application which allows to make phone calls over the internet. Probably the first most modern and well known Estonian invention in the World today.   Skype was invented and written by Ahti Heinla , Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn  & released in August 2003. Its number of users has grown rapidly ever since. The latest  record of users online was over 17million in March 23, 2009  and its growing about 30 million suscribers a quarter.  Ebay bought Skype in September 2005 for $ 2.6 billion.  

2. MINOX  CAMERA  -  Invented by  Walter Zapp  in 1936.  Although born as Latvian,  Walter started to develop his camera in Tallinn, where he was living at the time.  Patent was filed in Estonia, but as we had no proper industry to provide technical conditions for production of the Minox, work was undertaken by  Latvian electrotechnical factory VEF. Production continued later on in Germany. Funny enough , but all 3 countries are claiming to be the country of orign.  Well, actually he invented his camera in Tallinn as the first model was called ” the Tallinn Minox “. Production was started in Latvia and camera became famous in Germany, where production continued in large scale .  Minox camera became well know as  it was especially suitable for intelligence agents …   Walter Zapp lived his later life in Switzerland , where he also died in 2003.

Spy ‘  more :  http://www.ulemistecity.ee/eng/innovators/innovators

3. LACTOBACILLUS  FERMENTUM  ME-3  RELATED PRODUCTS  -  Discovered by lady microbiologist  Epp Songisepp in 2001.  It is a novel anti-microbial and anti-oxidative probiotic.  LF ME-3  has a high anti-microbial effect on Escherichia coli, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, and moderate activity against Helicobacter pylori strains. It can be used in food industry  such as milk products and in medicine as probiotic in form of tablets & capsules. Patent belongs to University of Tartu and has been licensed to  “TERE”  dairy company in Estonia.  Discovery and following innovation by group of scientists  : Mikelsaar Marika , Zilmer Mihkel , Kullisaar Tiiu , Annuk  Heidi and Songisepp Epp  won the Gold medal in Lady Inventors Awards in Soul 2008.

International Patent Application can be found : http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?wo=2003002131

 4. SCHMIDT  TELESCOPE   -  Invented by Estonian-Swedish optician  Bernhard W. Schmidt  in 1930.  His case is very unique as Bernhard happened to lose his arm by accident in age of 15 … But his determination and curiosity was rewarded. He became the guy’  to fix massive telescopes in Germany where he spent the most of his adult life.  His telescope corrected  optical errors making possible for the first time the construction of very large, wide-angled reflective cameras of short exposure time for astronomical research. Unfortunately there wasn’t much money around after the war, so he couldn’t make a lot either. Othervise he would of been a rich man as his work made a nice breaktrough in astronomy at the time.

For  much closer & wider look  :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Schmidt 

5. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION AND ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS THROUGH LASER INDUCED FLUORECENCE.     -  Invented by  Kurg Ants, metspalu Andres and Berik Jevgeni.   The present invention enables to analyze fast and accurately biological samples. The method includes prior mapping of the DNA chip with a CCD camera, addressed excitation of samples, and recording of fluorescence spectra via ultra-fast spectrometer.

US Application  available to view :  http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?KC=A1&date=20070426&NR=2007091306A1&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP&CC=US&FT=D

6. SEPPO’S FIXATION DEVICE – for the surgical treatment of the femoral neck fractures.  Invented by well known Estonian suregon and Docent Dr. Arnold Seppo.  Invention was published in his book : “Metallic osteosynthesis of bone fractures ”  in Tallinn, 1975 .

As he designed his reponator-fixator in times of  occupation, the patent could not been issued as Soviet practice in matters of inventions by citizens of USSR. But we can read from Dr. Seppo’ s letter to the editor of the  “Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery”  in US  http://www.ejbjs.org/cgi/reprint/59/2/279  where he mentions the fact that device has been patented already in Great Britain, France , America and Japan.

Dr. Arnold Seppo also improved the methods of treatment of severe burns. His recipe for the special ointment is well known even in these days. As a matter of fact you can buy it from  pharmacy in Tallinn.

7.  MYOTON – DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE FOR OUR MUSCLES.

In fact it is the first and only diagnostic device for painless measurement of bio-mechanical properties of biological tissues such as muscles , tendons and other soft tissues. Myoton can give the feedback of your muscle tone, stiffness and elasticity. It can be well helpful device to prevent  injuries in high-performance sports.  Myoton  can also tell us more about muscle recovery . One of the high profile users of  Myoton is Beijing Sport University, who opened its lab by Olympic Games 2008. Most recent users include Russian and German Astronauts. Myoton has been invented by Dr. Arved Vain at University of Tartu, Estonia. The next genereation of Myotons are under  the development  for global markets and likely to become common as Polar Watch within next 3 years.

 For more information visit : http://www.myoton.com/products.php 

8.  LAPREX – THE KING OF STONES  ( in Latin )

Or Silikaltsiit  in estonian  was invented by Johannes Hint after the war in 1940-s. It is special mix of sand and Ca(OH)2 which goes through desintegrator and as the result of the process it will end up very strong and naturally warm building material. Two factories were established to build these massive blocks in Estonia - one in Palivere and another at Aravete.  And as there was obvious deficit of building materials after the war, laprex became very popular one in Soviet Estonia and Russia soon. Many block houses were built which didnt always go with surroundings, but surely did the job at the time !   If you happen to travel around Estonia you can see many of them even in these days … 

9.  DFK Adhesives by  Dr. Agu Aarna   ( 1915-1989 ).  He was well known academical scientist of Oil shale industry in Soviet Estonia. His study enabled the TTU team to produce new kind of adhesives in 1960s. The franchise of the DFK was bought by japanese in 1976 and was also widely used all over the former USSR. Agu aarna became also well known public member through national quiz “Tarkade klubi ” aka ” Wize Men Club ” which was broadcasted in Estonian Radio every sunday morning. 

10. PAPELLO’s  CANNON.  Inventor Karl Papello was well ahead of its time. Perhaps it was Estonian Nokia what he had invented after all. He designed a specal  cannon what was enable to predict aircraft position by its noise.  Data was transmitted to gun control equipment … It was so unheard invention at the time that even Estonian Defence Ministry could not to bellive it !  But  orders were submitted on behalf of the British and Swedish Ministries of Defense and the U.S. Army. Finally our army gave in and installed Papellos cannons. Papello invented also so called ” Electronic ear ” which was able to predict batterys location by the noise of the fire. Swedish Defence Ministry ordered 4 cannons but our banks were not willing to underwrite. As a result, Papello left Estonia in 1932 for Germany, Carl Zeiss firm, where he became a recognized engineer.  Karl Papello had more than 100 patents on his name.  

* Many Estonian inventoins are software related nowadays.   Fits.me , Taxipal  and Primefish are just first 3 of 2009. I am confident, there is lot more to come as we have capacity to do so.  

Another industry which is rising its head is nano-technologies . I believe Estonia is one of the top nano-countries in the World today. The latest news from this era was made by Heiti Paves whos nano-photo won the first prize at Nikon Small World !

© Leo Siemann 2009