We’ve been publishing a list of young innovators every year for more than two decades now. Past winners include Andrew Ng, Feng Zhang, Joy Buolamwini, Sharon Li, and Julia Joung. Many of these distinguished scientists, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and businesspeople list the honor of being selected prominently on their bios.
You might ask who would make a good candidate for the list. In short, we’re looking for people doing interesting work in all areas of technology—biotechnology, artificial intelligence, climate and energy, computing, robotics, nanomaterials, and any other technological area you can think of. Sometimes our winners are inventors. Others are entrepreneurs employing technology in a new or interesting way, and yet others are working to use technology to right a social injustice or make life easier for people in difficult circumstances.
We like to see a specific achievement. We like to be able to answer questions like: What’s the innovation here? What did this person achieve that hasn’t been done before in quite this way? How is this person working toward solving a major technology problem so as to make a huge difference in people’s lives?
Yes, many of our candidates come from elite research universities or big corporations, but that’s not a requirement. We also like to feature inventors, startup founders, and social activists using technology in creative ways to make a difference in their communities.
Does this description sound like anyone you know? If so, it’s easy to nominate someone, or to apply yourself, and you can do it right here.