The days when you will be able to recharge electronic devices simply by placing them onto a charging pad with no need for wires or plugs are close at hand, thanks to work carried out by two CUED graduates, Lily Cheng and James Hay, and Dr. George Georghiou, of the Electricity Utilisation Group.
We envisage that such pads will eventually be built into desks and tables, and will completely remove the need for power leads and other paraphernalia.
Dr George Georghiou
The concept of a universal wireless charging pad won a cash prize in the Cambridge University Entrepreneurs annual competition last year. In addition, Lily Cheng was nominated for the prestigious UK Electrical Engineering Student of the Year Award 2001 based on her work in this area.
"We envisage that such pads will eventually be built into desks and tables, and will completely remove the need for power leads and other paraphernalia" said Dr Georghiou. "It is quite possible that these pads will become the world standard for powering mobile and hand-held devices."
Zap Wireless Technologies Ltd. has since been founded to commercialise the idea. Dr. Georghiou is also continuing to investigate this technology.
