This post originally appeared on MIT Technology Review
Our 35 Innovators Under 35 competition for 2021 is now open for nominations. You can nominate great candidates from now until 10 p.m. EST on February 3, 2021.
We’ve been publishing a list of young innovators for more than two decades now. Today, many of the people we’ve selected over the years—such as Andrew Ng, Helen Greiner, Feng Zhang, Neha Narkhede, Ian Goodfellow, Stephanie Lampkin, Julie Shah, Joy Buolamwini—are leaders in their fields. Many of these distinguished scientists, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and businesspeople list the honor of being selected prominently on their bios.
Could you or someone you know be the next young innovator? You can nominate great candidates here.
We’re looking for people doing interesting work with software, nanomaterials, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, computing, energy, electronics, and the internet. That could mean the creator of a bold new invention, but it could also mean an entrepreneur employing technology in a new or interesting way, or someone using technology to right a social injustice or make life easier for people in difficult circumstances. We’re looking for people making advances in the most important areas of innovation, ones that can help us all see the new direction technology might take in the near future.
What we’re most interested in seeing is a specific achievement. We like to be able to answer questions like: What’s the innovation here? What did this person achieve that hasn’t been done before in quite this way? How is this person working toward solving a major technology problem that could make a huge difference in people’s lives?
Some candidates come from the world’s elite research universities or top corporations. But many don’t. We’re also looking for inventors, startup founders, and social activists using technology in novel and creative ways to make a difference in their communities.
We have no idea who’ll end up on our 2021 list, because it’s not in our hands. That’s up to you.
