Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability

Posted by on August 10, 2009

Entries Invited for Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability
Deadline: October 6, 2009

Funded by the Lemelson Foundation and administered by MIT’s School of Engineering, the Lemelson-MIT Program recognizes outstanding inventors, encourages sustainable new solutions to real-world problems, and enables and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention.

The $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability honors inventors whose products or processes impact issues of global relevance, as well as issues that impact local communities in terms of meeting basic health needs and building sustainable livelihoods for the world’s poorest populations.

To foster technological invention in the area of sustainability, the Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability celebrates outstanding inventors whose technological products or processes collectively enhance human development, mitigate human environmental impact, and/or provide adaptations to environmental changes that are unalterable in the near term. These types of changes often adversely impact the most vulnerable populations. Issues of sustainability in developed and developing countries include quality of air, water or soil; or pertain to health, energy, agriculture, shelter, biodiversity, or ecosystem management.

To be eligible, candidates must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or foreign nationals currently working legally in the United States who have created a product, process or material, or have made a technology more affordable, redesigned a system, or otherwise demonstrated remarkable technological inventiveness in addressing sustainability across the development continuum. Candidates must provide evidence that their inventions have been adopted for practical use, and must work in an area that ultimately improves quality of life. Candidates should also serve as an inspiration to young people through their creativity, outreach, or mentoring activities.

Candidates, who must be nominated by one of their peers, may be individuals or a team of two collaborating inventors.

Visit the Lemelson-MIT Program Web site for complete program information.

Link to Complete RFP: http://web.mit.edu/invent/a-award.html