The Tech Museum of Innovation today announced the 25 finalists for the 2002 Tech Museum Awards: Technology Benefiting Humanity presented by Applied Materials, Inc. On 7 November at a black tie Awards Gala, Silicon Valley leaders and delegates from the United Nations will join together to honour all 25 laureates, and one finalist from each category will be awarded a $50 000 cash honorarium.
The awards, presented in partnership with the American Council for the United Nations University and Santa Clara University`s Center for Science, Technology, and Society, are designed to honour individuals, for-profit companies, and public and not-for-profit organisations from around the world who are applying technology to profoundly improve the human condition in the categories of education, equality, environment, health and economic development.
This year, an esteemed panel of judges considered over 460 nominations, representing 59 countries. The 25 2002 Tech Laureates come from Argentina, Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, SA, Switzerland and the US.
"Collectively our laureates address some of the world`s most pressing challenges," said Peter Giles, Tech President and CEO. "These stories and the incredible impact of these innovators will help us achieve our goal of inspiring future scientists, technologists and dreamers to harness the tremendous power and promise of technology to solve the global challenges that confront us today."
"The point of The Tech Museum Awards is not only to recognise great innovators for their achievements, but also to provide the tools to replicate and spread their technologies to benefit others around the world," stated Jim Morgan, Chairman and CEO of Applied Materials, Inc. "As I look at the exceptional list of laureates, from both this year and last, I am particularly proud of the leading role Applied Materials has played."
For more information on the awards and finalists, visit www.techawards.thetech.org.
The finalists for the 2002 Tech Museum Awards are:
The Nasdaq Stock Market for Education Award: Addressing issues such as illiteracy, autism, and poverty and delivering technology applications that improve access for people to learn.
* Bunker Roy, The Barefoot College, Rajasthan, India
* CAST, MA, USA
* Center for Spoken Language Research, University of Colorado, CO, USA
* Global SchoolNet Foundation, CA, USA
* Katha, New Delhi, India
Knight Ridder Equality Award: Using technology to combat issues related to disabilities, darkness and equal access to information.
* Light Up the World Foundation, Alberta, Canada
* Neil Scott, Archimedes at Stanford, CA, USA
* Solar Electric Light Fund, Washington DC, USA
* Transclick, Inc, NY, USA
* Vcom3D, Inc, FL, USA
Intel Environment Award: Developing technologies that conserve and protect our planet`s ecosystems and safeguard against the refuse of industry.
* Environment Canada, Saskatchewan, Canada
* International SeaKeepers Society, Fl, USA
* Bill Lovin & Susan Lovelace, EstuaryLive, NC, USA
* Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi, Kalyana Sundram & Yew Ai Tan, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia
* Dr Craig MV Taylor, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA
JPMorgan Chase Health Award: Enhancing the reach and safety of healthcare to marginalised communities, particularly addressing AIDS, blindness, cancer and disease.
* Dr Stephen Fodor, Affymetrix, CA, USA
* Dr Debbie Glencross, National Health Labs, Johannesburg, South Africa
* Dr Oviemo Ovadje, EATSET, Lagos, Nigeria
* Dr. Andreas Pluckthun, University of Zurich, Switzerland
* Dr Perry Rosenthal, Boston Foundation for Sight, MA, USA
Accenture Economic Development Award: Providing innovative technology solutions to promote individual and aggregate economic development.
* ApproTEC, CA, USA
* David Checkley, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, CA, USA
* Government of Karnataka (Bhoomi Project), India
* Peter Spradbrow, University of Queensland, Australia
* THASA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Keyword: California International Canada Africa/Middle East Latin America Asia Pacific Europe Track
Industry Keyword: Photo Photowire Medical Environment Education Software Computers/Electronics
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The concept for The Tech Museum Awards and its five categories was inspired in part by The State of the Future at the Millennium report of The Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University, which recommends that award recognition is an effective way to accelerate scientific breakthroughs and technological applications to improve the human condition. The Awards were inaugurated in 2001. Judging for The Tech Museum Awards is independently conducted by Santa Clara University`s Center for Science, Technology and Society, a global network of academic and industry experts dedicated to understanding and influencing how science and technology impact society. They assemble five panels of judges from around the world, recruited from research institutions, industry and the public sector, who judged the nominations on five set criteria.
The Tech Museum of Innovation Awards Partners
The Tech Awards represent a collaborative effort among educational institutions and business. Among Silicon Valley`s leaders supporting The Tech Awards are presenting sponsor, Applied Materials, Inc and Santa Clara University`s Center for Science, Technology and Society. Category sponsors are the Nasdaq Stock Market, Knight Ridder, Intel, JPMorgan Chase and Accenture.
The Tech Museum of Innovation
Located in the heart of downtown San Jose, Silicon Valley, California, The Tech, a non-profit organisation, engages people of all ages and backgrounds in exploring and experiencing the technologies affecting their lives and aims to inspire the innovator in everyone. For more information, visit www.thetech.org or call (408) 294-TECH.
Note: A photo is available at URL: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.092702/bb1