We know the first winners of Stanisław Lem “Planet Lem” awarded in honor of the great Polish futurist Stanislaw Lem from his heirs, the Krakow Festival Office and the Lem Institute. The winner in the Technology category was Dr. Olga Malenkevich for inventing and commercializing an energy source using perovskite. According to the jury, it has a chance to change the world of renewable energy sources. The prize winner in the science category was Prof. Artur Eckert, who has been repeatedly referred to as a Nobel Prize nominee. The jury awarded him for joint discovery of a new field of science, quantum cryptography. In the opinion of the jury, the discovery of quantum cryptographic ciphers has a revolutionary impact on security in the world. Finally, the award in the Culture category went to Edwin Bendick for his relentless participation in civilization in his journalistic activism, the impact of technology on society, and for his profound and unobvious assessment of the world.
The awards were first presented on the centenary of his birth, and will be awarded annually in three categories: science, culture, and technology. The award committee included prominent representatives from the world of science, technology and culture, such as Prof. Jerzy Pralchik, A.; Michel Kleber, A.; Stanislaw Berio, A.; Aleksandra Przygalieska, Natalia Hatalska, Commissioner to Krakow Mayor Robert Piaskowski, Secretary General Lem Szymon Kloska, President of the Lem Institute Dr Maciej Kawecki and Personal Secretary to Stanisław Lem, Wojciech Zemek.
First Planet Lem Prize Winners: In the Science Category – A. Artur Eckert, in the technology category – Dr. Olga Malenkevich, in the culture category – Edwin Bendik.
The author of the statues is Dr. Love. Krzysztof Franaszek, researcher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and a prominent Polish sculptor. Each individual statue is a work of art. The statue has a weight of 6 kg and a height of 32 cm, and its weight is a symbol of the weight of distinction. The figurines funded by the Lem Institute and the 3E system are made of perlite, which is very difficult to tackle, but as the Poles have shown, could change the world through its use in many areas. As Krzysztof Franaszek says, “Just as I did in the process of creating it, each winner had to make a great effort in his life to excavate the rock to finally touch the stars. The shape of the statue is a cubist pedestal linked to the work of human hands and a raw organic rock symbolizing the power of nature.” Only man and nature, working together, can create a cohesive whole and build the world beautifully. As Dr. Maciej Kawiki notes on behalf of the jury, “The prize organizers want to become the most important Polish prize in this field, at least in the ‘technology’ and ‘science’ categories. They will distinguish those who change the world and look at people in their activities while noting its flaws.” Finally, they want to distinguish those who have seen the future in their accomplishments.”
