$500k Prize

Cody Friesen is an inventor who develops renewable energy technologies that directly benefit people around the globe. His...

Luis von Ahn was born and raised in Guatemala, where he saw firsthand that high-quality educational opportunities were...

Feng Zhang was born in China and moved to Iowa with his family when he was eleven years old. Through a supportive school...

The life and career of Ramesh Raskar, PhD is dedicated to creating impact through disruptive high-tech inventions. He is a...

Jay Whitacre showed technical prowess as a young boy growing up in Westerville, Ohio. He was an avid computer programmer by...

Sangeeta N. Bhatia, MD, PhD is a role model for women in science and engineering. Bhatia is a mother of two young girls and...

Update: On May 12, 2022, Angela Belcher was elected to the The National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her...

Stephen Quake is a prolific inventor with a fearless ability to explore and work across disciplines. His work has led to a...

Raised by a physicist and an accomplished poet, John A. Rogers attributes his entrepreneurial success to appreciation for...

Carolyn Bertozzi, an internationally-renowned chemical biologist, has pioneered inventions with a wide range of...

The field of nanotechnology is rapidly growing, and at the forefront is Dr. Chad A. Mirkin, world-renowned chemist and...

Diversity is a key tenet of invention and innovation for Joseph M. DeSimone, who has succeeded in applying his inventive...

Timothy M. Swager intended to become a rancher. Growing up in Sheridan, Montana, a town of 600 people, he spent summers as a...

“Our whole system in this country stems back to invention and we need inventors,” said James Fergason. With over 150 U.S...

Elwood “Woody” Norris began his training in electronics by repairing broken radios as a child and learning all he could about...

Demonstrating an affinity for electrical engineering in childhood, Nick Holonyak, Jr., invented the first practical LED...