Tech Awards Recognize Science in Service to Humanity

The Tech Museum in San Jose, Calif., is appropriately located in the Silicon Valley, where the transformation of idea into innovation and invention has unfolded countless times, bringing to reality solutions to problems ranging from the mundane (how do we entertain ourselves this afternoon?) to the magnificent (how do we bring communications technology to remote, impoverished corners of the world?).

The museum is a showcase of exhibits, many interactive, that explore and illuminate achievements across many technical and scientific fields, and has since 2001 honored annual achievement in science applied to addressing pressing challenges and needs through the Tech Awards. This year's awards gala takes place on November 19, and the roster of honorees reflects a truly global view.

Tech Awards Laureates are recognized through five categories of merit and achievement: environment, economic development, education, equality and health. The 15 honorees selected for recognition in 2009 are listed along with description of their amazing achievements at the museum's Tech Awards Web site. Among the examples of technical work that has been brought to bear on the drive to make the world a better place are:

• Sean White's Electronic Field Guide, which incorporates mobile communications and digital photography in more quickly and efficiently cataloging and identifying rare or unknown species while they are still here
• Peter Frykman, whose Driptech implemented precise delivery of irrigation water quantities in regions where water is extremely scarce
• Markus Hoenworth, for the GeoGebra free open source software that facilitates dissemination of mathematics education materials
• Ken Banks, for the kiwanja.net FrontlineSMS, a platform designed for disseminating critical real-time information among NGOs for decision-makers working on challenges ranging from fair market pricing for commodities to monitoring elections
• UltraRice, for the development of a new strain of grain that increases the nutrient intake of several necessary dietary components where daily consumption of key micro-nutrients is known to be lacking.

Tonic tips our collective hat to the Tech Museum for its dedication to informing and enlightening, and we say thank you and congratulations to the 2009 honorees for the fusion of hard-nosed science with a deep sense of responsibility to the improvement of the human condition.

Photo courtesy of Don DeBold, via Wikimedia Commons