Mohamed Dhaouafi AGE: 28 AFFILIATION: CURE BIONICS COUNTRY OF BIRTH: TUNISIA Four years ago, during a university challenge, Mohamed Dhaouafi found out that one of his teammates’ cousins had been born without upper limbs and couldn’t afford prosthetics. An engineering student at the time, he’d been …Continue reading
He’s employing neural networks to allow automated cars to “see.”
Andrej Karpathy AGE: 33 AFFILIATION: TESLA COUNTRY OF BIRTH: SLOVAKIA Getting computers to see—to actually see—has been an ambition of countless computer scientists for decades. Few have come closer than Andrej Karpathy, whose approach to deep neural networks allows machines to make sense of what is …Continue reading
Heavy dependence on infrastructure like oil rigs, nuclear reactors, and desalination plants can be catastrophic in a crisis. Her data-driven framework could help nations prepare
Ghena Alhanaee AGE: 30 AFFILIATION: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COUNTRY OF BIRTH: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Early on in her days as a doctoral student at the University of Southern California, Ghena Alhanaee stumbled upon a disturbing set of facts. The countries of the Persian Gulf, including …Continue reading
His system could alleviate the drawbacks of existing desalination plants
David Warsinger AGE: 32 AFFILIATION: PURDUE UNIVERSITY COUNTRY OF BIRTH: US David Warsinger thinks he’s found an innovation that could help combat one of the 21st century’s great environmental challenges: water shortages around the globe. His fix is an improved form of reverse osmosis—the most common …Continue reading
His discovery could reduce errors in quantum computing
Zlatko Minev AGE: 30 AFFILIATION: IBM QUANTUM RESEARCH, TJ WATSON COUNTRY OF BIRTH: BULGARIA Zlatko Minev overturned a mainstay of quantum physics that had troubled Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein alike. For most of the 20th century, it was assumed that atoms change from one energy …Continue reading
Medical implants are often thwarted as the body grows tissue to defend itself. She may have found a drug-free fix for the problem
Eimear Dolan AGE: 32 AFFILIATION: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND GALWAY COUNTRY OF BIRTH: IRELAND When Eimear Dolan first worked to develop implantable medical devices to treat type 1 diabetes, she and her colleagues had to overcome a common roadblock. Their problem was one that’s long dogged makers …Continue reading
She created energy-efficient textiles to break our air-conditioning habit
Lili Cai AGE: 33 AFFILIATION: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN COUNTRY OF BIRTH: CHINA Lili Cai has created nanomaterial–based textiles the thickness of a normal T-shirt that can keep you warm or cool you off. Cai’s work takes advantage of the fact that human skin strongly …Continue reading
He invented a way to make radiation therapy for cancer safer and more effective
Gregory Ekchian AGE: 32 AFFILIATION: MIT COUNTRY OF BIRTH: US The amount of radiation it takes to kill a tumor depends on the level of oxygen in the tumor cells. This can vary greatly, but oncologists don’t currently adjust radiation doses to account for it. Gregory …Continue reading
A massive 3D-printing project in Mexico could point the way to the future of affordable housing
Alex Le Roux AGE: 27 AFFILIATION: ICON COUNTRY OF BIRTH: CANADA Alex Le Roux thinks 3D printing can open new possibilities for architectural design and cut the cost of building housing around the world.As cofounder of Icon, a startup based in Austin, Texas, Le Roux is …Continue reading
Seeking a universal treatment for viral diseases, he might leave us much better prepared for the next pandemic
Andreas Puschnik AGE: 31 AFFILIATION: CHAN ZUCKERBERG BIOHUB COUNTRY OF BIRTH: GERMANY Zika, Ebola, SARS, dengue fever, and covid-19. These diseases have fearsome personalities, yet the viruses that cause them are not really alive. To reproduce, viruses need to hijack a cell and use its components …Continue reading