Lembit Maimets (CivE 5T6) has added to his recent awards for innovation and invention with a coveted Prix Eiffel Award. The Platinum Medal was awarded for his "Self-unfolding satellite with gravity" invention.
The original patron of the Prix Eiffel contest is Gustave Eiffel, a major figure of the industrialization era in Europe and rest of the world. He is the designer of the well-known tower, which has become the icon of Paris, and other innovative solutions.
Before the most recent prize from France was announced, earlier this fall Maimets won first place with the International Special Award for his entry from the World Invention Intellectual Property Association (WIIPA). Additionally, a special honour was given from the Association of Thai Innovation and Invention Promotion (ATIP). The announcement came at the International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCan 2024).
Maimets remarks the design was old, forgotten and left for so long, "The patent has now expired - back in 1993 I think. When I was asked to enter something in this contest, I just remembered it and took it out to enter."
In essence, the structure he has designed is a large, hollow doughnut with an elegant and simple method for deployment in space.
Maimets explains how his compact package can expand itself, "It is something that uses the internal stresses in the material, so that when in zero gravity, the stresses are released, the structure becomes a doughnut, basically. And that's it by itself. Then people get into it afterwards, do whatever they have to do to set it up so that astronauts can live in it to make a habitable structure. One of those doughnuts can accommodate about 800 people, and you can stack them up. I would say that in the whole drum, maybe 10,000 people can be there. The power can be with a nuclear power system."
The 98-year-old alumnus recently visited campus and marvelled at the liveliness of several young and enthusiastic first-year Engineering students in the hallways. The CIV102 students had just finished their Bridge Testing Day event, resulting in the destruction of their respective team's cardboard construction, but were in good spirits. The four women he met in the hall, remarked the alumnus, represented more women than the three in the entire Faculty during the 1950s (two MechE and one ChemE).
Enjoying the chance to meet current students, Maimets joined undergraduate students in the Civ Club Common Room for a festive hot chocolate.
Maimets, having graduated in 1956, actually attended classes in the old red brick schoolhouse (aka "Skule") which was torn down in the 1960s to make way for the new Medical Science Building. A model of the building, along with the original building's signage, are on display in the Galbraith Building (GB). Ironically, Galbraith Building construction began in 1958, opening in 1960, so Maimets has had little reason to visit the 64-year-old building before.
Soon after his visit to campus, Maimets departed on a business trip to Egypt. The nearly century-old entrepreneur is not yet retired. Professionally, Maimets is known for founding a company of his own. As president and CEO of Link-Pipe Inc., a manufacturer of no-dig pipe repair products first established in 1980, he has multiple patents for repairing pipes and conduits. Recently, as a move towards retirement, he closed the business on July 31 and licensed his technology to companies in the Middle East and Africa, with a view to expand licensing to Europe and Singapore.
Due to an ongoing postal strike in Canada, Maimets may have to wait until the new year to receive his medal via the mail. CivMin hopes to host Lembit Maimets for a fireside chat in the new year, where he can share his lifelong expertise in civil engineering, entrepreneurship and innovation.
VIDEO: Watch the voiceover PowerPoint explaining the concept
By Phill Snel
Read our past story about Lembit Maimets winning innovation awards