Innovation

Congratulations to chemical biologist Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, this year’s winner of the prestigious $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize. Bertozzi’s ability to identify unmet needs and craft innovative solutions has led to scientific advances with a broad range of applications in the biopharmaceutical industry. Chemical insights gleaned by Bertozzi have progressed efforts to diagnose and treat diseases such as…

This week Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation launchedLawForChange.org, a unique and innovative online legal resource designed for people and organizations in the social sector dedicated to improving lives and bringing about positive social change. LawForChange features state-specific information – designed for laypersons, not lawyers – from law firms throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico on key…

Congratulations to Dr. BP Agrawal, recipient of this year’s $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability. Dr. Agrawal’s creation of a community-driven rainwater harvesting system and mobile health clinics have the potential to improve the global public health system and better the quality of life for villagers in rural India. Dr. Agrawal was selected as the winner…

Congratulations to the winners of the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Collegiate Student Prizes! The four awarding universities – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – announced their respective student winners today, featuring innovation in a range of fields. This is exemplified by the so-called “Scientific…

Cambridge, Mass – The Lemelson-MIT program released today the findings of this year’s Invention Index, an annual survey that gauges American’s perceptions about invention and innovation. The 2010 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index survey was conducted by Kelton Research December 7-14, 2009, using an internet-based, multiple-choice format. A nationally representative sample of 500 teens, ages 12-17 years…

The innovative work of The Lemelson Foundation and some of our grantees – including RAMP India’s Dr. Sathya Jeganathan, SELCO-India, and Kickstart – was showcased on Voice of America’s (VOA) English language stations around the world recently. The story, which features Lemelson Foundation Executive Director Julia Novy-Hildesley, is now available on VOA’s website. Read the…

Solar lamps designed and distributed by former NCIIA E-team Greenlight Planet are lighting up the lives of people in rural India, as reported yesterday in The Wall Street Journal. Greenlight Planet was started as a E-Team by students at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to develop a solar-charged, battery powered LED lantern for use in India and China. The…

RAMP India innovator K. Vivekanandan was featured last week in The Hindu, the national newspaper of India. Vivekanandan’s innovation is a modified pin pulverizer for grinding spices in rural villages. The technology eliminates the need for villagers to travel long distances to find similar machines, which require too much energy and are too expensive for use…

Cambridge, Mass., – The Lemelson-MIT Program yesterday announced 15 teams of high school students, teachers and mentors selected to participate in the 2009-2010 InvenTeam initiative. The teams will pursue year-long invention projects and be provided with hands-on access to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. The Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam initiative is a national grants program designed to excite…

The latest issue of TIME magazine features their annual special report on community service, including their Community Service 2009 list of “Responsibility Pioneers” – companies and organizations (big and small) that are changing the world. Among the 25 listed are four that are either grantees or fellow philanthropies that the Lemelson Foundation works directly with: Living Goods–More

The Solar Ear project, developed by Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow Howard Weinstein, has been selected as one of 15 initiatives for a Tech Award. The project, which pairs a low-cost hearing aid solution with a solar charger, was featured online today by Fast Company’s Ariel Schwartz. You can read the article here. About The Tech Awards The Tech Awards is an…

Add another accolade to the growing list about Ecovative, the company that is using mushrooms and other organic materials for a drop-in replacement to styrofoam. The company, recently highlighted in Popular Science, was last week featured on CNN.com’s “Young People Who Rock” blog as well as on a CNN.com Live Interview with 24-year-old founders/innovators Eben…