One of the most popular features we produce at MIT Technology Review depends on extensive input from the public. It’s our annual report on 35 important innovators under the age of 35. Anyone can nominate a candidate. In fact, that’s where some of our best suggestions originate. So please nominate anyone who is doing original and inspiring work in energy, computing and the Web, robotics, artificial intelligence, communications, materials, or biomedicine. (Feel free to nominate yourself.) We’re seeking a diverse group, and not only in terms of gender and geography: we like to highlight academic researchers and people in big companies, startups, VC firms, nonprofits, any kind of organization at all.
The deadline has been extended to May 1; nominees must be younger than 35 as of October 1, 2017.
We’re often asked why we have an age limit. The reason is that we’re looking for people whose stories tend to be new and thus inspiring to our readers and who are likely to shape their fields for decades to come. Another frequent question: what do we look for in the people we pick? The answer there is that we want to tell interesting stories. This is not a lifetime achievement award for someone who got a PhD at 20 and filed more patents than anyone else in his or her lab. If you look at last year’s list and earlier editions, you’ll see that each winner has a clear innovation that solves some problem and is easily understood. Know anyone who fits that bill?