IP: Technology Tech innovators honored for service

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Tech innovators honored for service
Five receive awards at museum ceremony
By the Mercury News
Five technology innovators using their skills and resources to address a 
wide range of problems in the areas of health, education, environment, 
economic development and equality were honored for their service to 
humanity Thursday night at the Tech Museum of Innovation.

Many Silicon Valley executives and leaders were in the crowd of about 1,100.

The awards are a collaborative effort between the Tech, Santa Clara 
University's Center for Science, Technology and Society and the Millennium 
Project of the American Council for the United Nations University, with 
seed money supplied by chip equipment maker Applied Materials.
The winners of the first Tech Museum of Innovation Awards, each of which 
carry a $50,000 prize, are:

NASDAQ Education Award -- Freeplay Foundation, South Africa, represented by 
executive director Kristine Pearson. The foundation works in developing 
nations to broadcast health education information via wind-up and 
solar-powered radios.

Knight Ridder Equality Award -- Chaz M. Holder, president, CZBioMed, 
Fayetteville, N.C. CZBioMed offers the technology for high-quality, 
inexpensive prosthetic limbs that can be fitted without expert clinicians.

Credit Suisse First Boston Economic Development Award -- Fabio de Oliveira 
Rosa, IDEAAS, Brazil. He developed low-cost electrification systems for 
rural Brazil.

Intel Environmental Award -- Dr. Betsy Dresser, senior vice president for 
research/director of Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, 
Audubon Nature Institute, New Orleans. She pioneered assisted-reproduction 
technology to repopulate endangered wildlife species.

JPMorgan Chase Health Award -- Joseph DeRisi, assistant professor, 
Biochemistry and Biophysics Department, University of California-San 
Francisco. He is using DNA microarray technology to study the genetic 
structure of malaria, work that may speed development of new and 
cost-effective malaria drugs.


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