Mait Müntel, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lingvist, has been granted an award for his contribution in supporting and developing the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Alumni Network as an active member of the network.
The Second Collisions CERN alumni event took place online on 1–3 October and celebrated those who have worked – and are currently working – at CERN, as well as their positive impact on society. For the first time, the organizers presented a special award to recognize how their alumni contribute to CERN’s mission in developing and supporting the Alumni Network.
Lingvist CEO and Co-Founder Mait Müntel was chosen as one of the awardees for his successful career as an entrepreneur, as well as his contribution to the network as a mentor. During the online ceremony, Müntel’s award was presented by Ash Ravikumar, Entrepreneurship Development Officer at CERN.
“When we reached out to you, no questions asked, you just gave more and more without ever asking for anything. And for that, I will always be grateful, and this is just a small token of appreciation,” said Ravikumar during the award presentation to Müntel.
From physicist to entrepreneur
While at CERN as part of the Higgs boson discovery team, Müntel needed to learn French in order to communicate with the locals in Switzerland. After unsuccessfully trying with different tools that didn’t provide him with the vocabulary he needed, in addition to finding himself stranded in France after missing a train due to his inability to communicate, he decided to tackle the challenge through science.
His goal was to create a faster and more efficient way to learn a language, and soon after he developed a prototype of Lingvist, which used artificial intelligence at its core with incredible results. The rest is history.
Watch Ash Ravikumar, Entrepreneurship Development Officer at CERN, present the award to Lingvist CEO Mait Müntel during the CERN Alumni Second Collisions Award Ceremony here:
