Emily's Musings

Tech Awards

Today was the annual Tech Museum Awards, where the museum honors innovators who are using technology to benefit humanity. I was invited to attend the Tech Laureates Venture Network Showcase this morning where I got a chance to meet this year's 25 Tech Laureates and learn a bit more about their projects. The big gala is this evening.

Its getting lots of good press:
Helping Humanity in the SJ Merc
Group's high-tech efforts to aid Navajo honored in the Denver Post
Honoring technology for changing the world
Projects improved the human condition, SF Chronicle
etc.

Update:
Press Release with the winners.

The Tech Museum Awards: Technology Benefiting Humanity presented by Applied Materials, Inc., awarded $250,000 at a black-tie gala last night to educators and social entrepreneurs who use technology to benefit mankind. The five $50,000 cash prize recipients hail from Brazil, Guatemala and the United States, and their technology solutions change and save the lives of countless individuals from all backgrounds in over 25 countries.

Each of the five Laureates awarded a cash prize is encouraged to reinvest their winnings in additional innovative programs that utilize technology to solve global challenges and improve the lives of people around the globe.

The 2004 Tech Museum Awards cash prize recipients were:

Dr. Kenneth Owens, Jr. and Paul Burgess of Humboldt State University received the Intel Environment Award for developing remote-controlled, GPS-enabled robots to seek and destroy landmines.

Arcata, CA - http://www.humboldt.edu/~kdo10/demining.html

International Development Enterprises - International received the Accenture Economic Development Award for Easy Drip, an affordable and low-waste micro-irrigation kit for poor rural farmers.

Lakewood, CO - www.ide-international.org

Andrew Lieberman of Asociacion Ajb'atz' Enlace Quiche received the Microsoft Education Award for developing low-cost, bilingual, intercultural technology centers for indigenous Guatemalans.

Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala - www.enlacequiche.org.gt

Rodrigo Baggio of the Committee for the Democratization of Information Technology received the Agilent Technologies Equality Award for leveraging Information & Communication Technology to promote social inclusion of less-privileged people.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - www.cdi.org.br

Dr. Ashok Gadgil of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory received the Affymetrix Health Award for UV Waterworks, a quick, low-cost system to disinfect drinking water in poor regions around the world.

Berkeley, CA, United States -