Every year on March 4, World Engineering Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the invaluable role engineering excellence plays in tackling global issues in pursuit of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These 17 goals exist out of a necessity to address global crises that limit humanity’s collective health and potential. Given the…
A road map to economic resilience and more inclusive prosperity The U.S. is at an economic crossroads, hastened by the effects of the pandemic. As we look for the best ways to revitalize our economy, we are appropriately focused on urgent, short-term needs, like getting people back to work and supporting small businesses such as…
Three new reports underscore why supporting a robust invention ecosystem is critical for economic resilience and creating the industries of the future. For the last 25 years, The Lemelson Foundation has focused on supporting invention as a catalyst for fueling economies and improving lives. Now, as a new administration is setting its agenda for economic…
The Engineering for One Planet (EOP) Initiative has launched a website to share information, resources, events and updates with the global engineering education community to help advance the goal of integrating environmental sustainability education in all engineering disciplines. Mobilized by The Lemelson Foundation and VentureWell with collaboration from hundreds of academic, non-profit, and industry leaders,…
To commemorate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we’re spotlighting inventors whose work is redefining what it means to be included and reshaping the world so it’s accessible to all. Millions of people live with some form of disability. According to the World Health Organization’s World Report on Disability, 15 percent of the global population…
To commemorate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we’re spotlighting inventors whose work is redefining what it means to be included and reshaping the world so it’s accessible to all. Millions of people live with some form of disability. According to the World Health Organization’s World Report on Disability, 15 percent of the global population…
At the intersection of empathy and invention, Jason Grieves develops technology that bridges the digital divide for those with mobility or visual impairments. If Jason Grieves could boil his invention philosophy down to one phrase it would be this: inclusive design. A software engineer who has worked at Apple, Microsoft and IBM, and the holder…
At the intersection of empathy and invention, Jason Grieves develops technology that bridges the digital divide for those with mobility or visual impairments. If Jason Grieves could boil his invention philosophy down to one phrase, it would be this: inclusive design. A software engineer who has worked at Apple, Microsoft and IBM, and the holder…
Dr. Rory A. Cooper is a veteran, an athlete and the holder of more than 20 groundbreaking patents in wheelchair and other assistive technology.
Dr. Rory A. Cooper is an engineer, a veteran, an athlete and the holder of more than 20 groundbreaking patents in wheelchair and other assistive technology. If you use a wheelchair or know someone who does, chances are it includes technology invented by Dr. Rory Cooper. The founder and director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories,More
Four recommendations for my colleagues in the sustainable development sector on the vital role of local, invention-based enterprises By any standard, 2020 has been a landmark year of disruption. For the development community, this disruption occurs at the beginning of the final decade to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our shared blueprint to improve…
The fourteen-year-old’s innovation could potentially help people with hearing loss. At the 2020 Broadcom MASTERS® (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) competition, The Lemelson Foundation awarded the Lemelson Award for Invention to Julian Olschwang of Los Angeles, California. His project, called Talk to the Hand, is a low-cost sign language glove that…
Dr. Juan Gilbert created the Prime III software voting system as a model for how to make elections more secure — and more inclusive. Growing up in Hamilton, Ohio, Dr. Juan Gilbert’s path toward invention wasn’t laid out for him. “I didn’t have any role model or anything like that,” he says. What he did…