The $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Global Innovation

Responding to Emerging Global Needs

2011 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability winner
Elizabeth Hausler for earthquake-resistant housing
for the developing world. Credit: Lemelson-MIT Program

Formerly known (2007-2011) as the $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability, the Lemelson-MIT Award for Global Innovation recognizes and rewards individuals whose technological innovations improve the lives of impoverished people in the developing world.

To foster technological innovation for the developing world, the Lemelson-MIT Award for Global Innovation celebrates outstanding technology-focused inventors who:

Improve the health, shelter, energy, agriculture, air quality, water, soil, education, or ecosystem management in developing nations.
Have already disseminated technology/ies that are further scalable or replicable
Draw attention to, and increase youth interest in the challenges facing developing countries and the role of invention to address those challenges

Learn more about eligibility requirements or nominate an inventor today at: http://web.mit.edu/invent/a-award.html

Recent award recipients:

Elizabeth Hausler (2011), who's approach to building earthquake-resistant homes became the basis of the business model for Build Change, her nonprofit group with the mission of greatly reducing deaths, injuries and economic losses caused by housing collapses in developing countries.
BP Agrawal (2010), a visionary social entrepreneur, who combined business insight with pioneering technologies to uncover innovative approaches to solve problems for the world’s vulnerable populations.
Joel Selanikio (2009), a pediatrician, former Wall Street computer consultant, and epidemiologist who has merged his experience in these fields to improve the quality of life in developing countries.
Martin Fisher (2008), co-founder of Kickstart, maker of low-cost, human-powered irrigation pumps and other simple moneymaking tools, coupled with a sustainable and replicable supply-chain model that enables subsistence farmers in Africa to become self-reliant entrepreneurs.
Lee Lynd (2007), innaugural winner who invented advanced technologies for converting biomass feedstocks into motor vehicle fuels. For more info, see feature below.

Featured Prize Winner: Lee Lynd's Inventive Approach is Fueling a Sustainable Solution to the World's Energy Needs

Inaugural winner Lee Lynd is using a genetically modified microorganism to break down cellulosic biomass. To many people, that description may not mean much—until you explain that Lynd's process creates the potential to power cars, trucks, and other motor vehicles using sustainable biofuels.

2007 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability
winner Lee Lynd. Credit: Mascoma Corporation

Ethanol has already drawn attention as a potentially powerful source of sustainable energy, but the most common current form of corn ethanol production is expensive and energy-intensive. Because it uses the same part of the corn crop that people and animals eat, mass ethanol production would cause a substantial stress on global food prices. By focusing on how to break down the inedible part of plants, Lynd has developed a process that is less expensive and has more growth potential, producing 10 units of biofuel energy for every 1 unit of fossil energy the process uses, without competing with food production.

Lynd credits his parents, whose long careers focus on the civil rights, anti-war, and labor movements, with inspiring his own commitment to social service, and inadvertently to science and invention. "I entered college looking for a path of service, and I ended up focusing on sustainable energy sources," says Lynd. Combining studies in biology, bacteriology, and engineering has given him a keen perspective on innovating to meet global fuel needs. "Energy is the critical issue of our time and a huge determinant of human well-being and prosperity.In the future people will look back and judge us by how well we responded to this challenge."

Lynd testified before Congress and advised President Clinton on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from personal vehicles, as well as contributed to a 2004 study by the National Resources Defense Council on how to reduce America's oil dependence. He also serves as an inspiration to a new generation, managing the only graduate fellowship program in the general energy field, and supervising dozens of students who share his passion for alternative fuels.

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