2023 Edison Awards
Honoring the Best in Innovation and Innovators
Attend the 36th annual Edison Awards in Fort Myers, FL on April 19-21, 2023, to experience some of the world’s most respected authorities on innovation offer insight and inspiration to our guests.
Stimulate your thinking, embrace opportunities to make new connections, and celebrate innovation.
Space is limited, register today!
Register for the 2023 Edison Awards
Join hundreds of the world’s top innovators in Fort Myers, FL. Participate in this exciting event and experience SW Florida culture and attractions.
2023 Speakers

Patrick
Gelsinger
Patrick Gelsinger
Patrick (Pat) Gelsinger is chief executive officer of Intel Corporation and serves on its board of directors. On Feb. 15, 2021, Gelsinger returned to Intel, the company where he had spent the first 30 years of his career.
Before rejoining Intel, Gelsinger was CEO of VMware. In that role, he transformed VMware into a recognized global leader in cloud infrastructure, enterprise mobility and cyber security – almost tripling the company’s annual revenues. Gelsinger was also ranked the best CEO in America in 2019, according to an annual survey by Glassdoor. Prior to joining VMware in 2012, Gelsinger was president and chief operating officer of EMC’s Information Infrastructure Products business, overseeing engineering and operations for information storage, data computing, backup and recovery, RSA security and enterprise solutions. Gelsinger began his career in 1979 at Intel, becoming its first chief technology officer, and also serving as senior vice president and the general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group. He managed the creation of key industry technologies such as USB and Wi-Fi. He was the architect of the original 80486 processor, led 14 microprocessor programs and played key roles in the Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon® processor families, leading to Intel becoming the preeminent microprocessor supplier. Gelsinger earned several degrees in electrical engineering: an associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute, a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree from Stanford University. He holds eight patents in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture and communications, is an IEEE Fellow, and serves as a member of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Gelsinger and his wife have been married for over 30 years; they have four children and eight grandchildren. He is also a published author and speaks frequently on faith, work and philanthropy.
Sir Jonathan
Ive
Sir Jonathan Ive
Sir Jonathan Ive KBE is a designer.
He joined Apple in 1992. As chief design officer, Jony was responsible for all hardware, user interface and packaging design, as well as the major architectural projects Apple Park and Apple retail stores. He led the design team for more than two decades, creating the iMac, PowerBook, MacBook, iBook, iPod, iPhone, iPad, AppleWatch, AirPods and HomePod.
Co-founder Steve Jobs referred to Jony as his creative partner.
He holds more than 14,000 patents worldwide, uniquely spanning both software and hardware design.
Born in London, Jony studied industrial design at college. He was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 2003, an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (HonFREng) in 2006. Jony was awarded the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2004 and the Professor Stephen Hawking Fellowship by the Cambridge Union Society in 2018. He holds honorary doctorates from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Rhode Island School of Design, University of the Arts London and the Royal College of Art, where he currently serves as chancellor.
In 2019, Jony and long-time friend and collaborator Marc Newson gathered the creative collective LoveFrom, which includes Airbnb, Apple and Ferrari amongst its first collaborators. Jony is frequently voted one of Britain’s most culturally influential figures.

Andrea
Kates
Andrea Kates
Andrea Kates is a San Francisco Bay Area-based authority at moving innovation to revenue. She focuses on uncovering untapped opportunities and galvanizing strategic vision. For 20 years she’s led bold initiatives in virtually every sector and every geography that help companies figure out where to place their bets on emerging products, services and technologies and to scale dynamic business models. In essence: How do you disrupt before being disrupted, avoid the blind side and get ahead of the future? Leaders who work with Andrea develop a new mindset about future growth, informed by both data and new insights. Andrea was CEO of the San Francisco SaaS software company that pioneered the application of Lean Startup with scaleup and large companies. In that capacity, she had visibility into more than 13,000 commercialization, technology, and innovation initiatives covering a broad spectrum of companies within the innovation ecosystem from government research labs to large companies (3M, Intel), and a wide range of startups. Based on her experience, she developed the original Get to Next methodology which is specifically designed to equip corporate teams to ACTIVATE Innovation. The core components are: ENVISION emerging opportunities with fresh eyes, EXPAND rapidly through new lenses and future-focused technologies, BUILD initiatives from early stage through to scale, and ENGAGE leaders and teams with the new direction.She has “futureproofed” teams in virtually every sector including mobile (Ford US + China, GM, Audi), manufacturing/energy (ABB, Audi, GM, Shell-Asia Pacific + Europe), technology/mobile (Fujitsu, HP, Cisco); healthcare (Atrium Health, Mayo Clinic, Roche), B2C consumer goods/hospitality (United Airlines, Sodexo, ALFA-Middle East) and financial services (Allstate, AIG, Citi). Her original research in cross-industry growth was published in her book, Find Your Next. Andrea has been the featured keynote speaker and global thought leader on the TED main stage, Aspen Ideas Festival, CXO Forum in Tokyo, Rueda de Innovación (Colombia), and in corporate settings (3M, Cisco, Phocuswright: The Future of Travel, OpenFinance Mexico: The Future of Finance, Dubai 2020). Her board affiliations include: Embrace Global, Copenhagen Fintech, OpenFinance Mexico, and Stanford University’s global institute on Responsible Digital Leadership. Today, Andrea works with leaders to discover their best future with a tangible, practical set of steps called: GET TO NEXT.
Carmichael
Roberts
Carmichael Roberts
Carmichael is co‐founder and managing partner of Material Impact, a fund that builds resilient technology companies developing products to solve real‐world problems using innovative materials. He is also the co‐lead of the investment committee at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a mission‐oriented group chaired by Bill Gates committed to creating and building companies that address climate change and the long‐term sustainability of the planet.
Prior to venture, as an entrepreneur, Carmichael built several successful companies that create innovative products by applying material science. His strategy as a venture investor is based on his successful career as an entrepreneur in materials innovation, blending a unique business model of licensing university technology and commercializing it through targeted partnerships with Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to his career as an investor, Carmichael co‐founded several ventures, in which he served as President and CEO or Chairman.
Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Carmichael worked in business development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals, acquired by Genzyme for $1.3 billion, and in new product and business development at Dow Chemical (formerly Union Carbide Corporation).
Elected to the Board of Trustees of Duke University in 2013, Carmichael currently serves as Vice Chairman. He was appointed to the Duke University Health System Board of Directors in 2017 and currently serves on the Audit and Compliance Committee.
Carmichael also serves on the boards for the Consumer Technology Association, WGBH, and Massachusetts General Hospital Physicians Organization. Carmichael was selected by the Aspen Institute to participate in the Finance Leaders Fellowship program as a senior leader in the venture capital industry.
Carmichael received his BS and PhD in organic chemistry from Duke University and completed his postdoctoral National Science Foundation fellowship at Harvard University. Carmichael also has an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Florian
Schattenmann
Florian Schattenmann
Florian Schattenmann is Cargill’s Chief Technology Officer and Vice President for Innovation and Research & Development (R&D). He oversees a global team that is driven by the vision of relentlessly creating value for Cargill and its customers via research, application and product development, and technical service support across agriculture, food, animal feed and bioindustrial markets. He also leads the Strategic Growth Business Accelerator, designed to accelerate and scale cross enterprise innovation- and science-driven strategic growth businesses. Current focus areas include alternative protein and human health technologies. Prior to joining Cargill in November 2018, Florian spent eight years at The Dow Chemical Company. His most recent role was Vice President for Performance Materials & Coatings R&D, where he led innovation across a diverse set of specialty businesses. Florian has also held leadership roles at SulphCo Inc. and GE-Bayer Silicones. Earlier in his career, Florian managed several research laboratories at GE’s Global Research Center. Florian is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, holds seven U.S. patents and has numerous publications. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards for Texas A&M AgriLife and College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, the College of Science and Engineering at University of Minnesota, and the Department of Chemistry at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA and his Diplom Chemiker degree from the Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany. Florian and his family live in Golden Valley, MN. Besides spending time with his family, he loves playing the bass, road cycling and working out.
Bob
Maughon, Ph.D.
Bob Maughon, Ph.D.
Bob Maughon is the executive vice president, Sustainability, Technology & Innovation and Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer at SABIC. He oversees a global organization with 20 research centers around the world and a talented team focused on driving process, product and application innovation to support SABIC’s growth agenda. Additionally, Maughon has responsibility for Corporate Sustainability, Product Stewardship, Technology Licensing and Technology Ventures.
Dr. Maughon joins SABIC after a 21 year career at Dow, where he most recently served from 2013-2019 as the R&D vice president for Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons at Dow.
Maughon serves as a board member of the University of Michigan Engineering Leadership Advisory Board and the AspenTech Executive Advisory Board.
He holds nine U.S. Patents and has numerous publications and presentations at external conferences.
Maughon earned his BA degree in chemistry from Rice University and his PhD in organic chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.

Katie
Linendoll
Katie Linendoll
As one of the most in-demand technology experts worldwide, Linendoll is recognized by a wide-range of audiences for her reporting and frequent appearances as a regular expert contributor for major media outlets including The TODAY Show, The Rachael Ray Show and numerous other outlets including The Weather Channel, CBS Sports Radio, Robert Irvine Magazine, and more.In addition to frequent live, in-studio media appearances, Linendoll runs her own production company which allows her to shoot, produce, and edit her own tech news stories in some of the most exotic and extreme locations—ranging from a remote community in the Philippines in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan to NASA’s zero-gravity training lab 63-feet underwater off the coast of the Florida Keys. Linendoll’s cutting-edge technology stories have been featured as TV and digital segments and series on The Weather Channel, Popular Science, and Sports Illustrated to name a few.
Linendoll is one of the first women in tech to make significant contributions to the industry, starting her career at the age of 12 when she began coding and earning networking certifications before graduating from high school. Linendoll went on to receive a degree in Information Technology New Media from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Following graduation, she began working behind-the-scenes in production for ESPN where she won an Emmy Award for her work on SportsCenter and later contributed more than 60 written and digital pieces as a sports tech expert. Following her work at ESPN, Linendoll was nominated for a second Emmy Award for her work as a co-host on A&E’s We Mean Business, a reality show designed to help revamp small businesses across the country.
During her career, Linendoll has hosted more than a dozen shows and series focused on technology and innovation and has also been named a special correspondent at major tech conferences including Comic-Con, CES, E3, Toy Fair, and Maker Faire. She is frequently booked as an emcee and keynote speaker at major corporate events with top international brands including IBM, Dell, Global Semiconductor Alliance, Lenovo, Deloitte, QuickBooks, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, SAS, Kronos, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, The Outdoor Association, Teradata, and GE to name a few.
Linendoll is a Silicon Valley Visionary Award Recipient, which celebrates Silicon Valley leaders in technology, education, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. Alongside her two Emmy nominations, and one win, Linendoll also holds a Guinness World Record for the “Most High Fives in One Minute”.
Linendoll calls Boston and NYC home. She leads an active, faith-filled lifestyle as a runner, fitness enthusiast, musician, and avid traveler. She also devotes a large percentage of her time to select philanthropic causes in healthcare, tech & US Veterans.

Danielle
Mousseau
Danielle Mousseau
Danielle is manager of 35 Mules, where she leads efforts to grow early-stage startups in the program and support Florida’s growing startup ecosystem. Danielle joined FPL in 2008, and has held various roles across the organization, including client and event management, product and email marketing, electric vehicle infrastructure project management and, most recently, economic development. In her previous roles, Danielle’s achievements include marketing efforts that earned second in the nation for email communications among utilities from J.D. Power for 2013. When FPL began growing its clean vehicle fleet, Danielle led and managed more than 70 charging station infrastructure projects across company service centers and offices. In economic development, she was named as one of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers in 2020. Danielle currently serves on the boards of Florida Venture Forum, Synapse, GrowFL’s Advisory Board and the Jupiter Police Foundation’s Advisory Board. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in strategic communication from the University of Minnesota. A native Floridian, born and raised in South Florida, Danielle currently resides in Tequesta, Florida.
Lucienne
Pears
Lucienne Pears
In her role as Vice President of Economic & Business Development, Lucienne strives to create a sustainable economy in Babcock Ranch. She grew up in rural upstate New York, graduated from Salisbury University on Maryland's eastern shore studying environmental science and urban planning. Living in SW Florida since 2002, Lucienne spent nearly a decade consulting on land development projects. In 2009 Lucienne shifted her focus to economic development, committed to improving the lives and opportunities of residents. During her years in Charlotte County’s EDO, Lucienne was recognized twice (2017 & 2018) as one of the Top 50 Economic Developers in North America by Consultant Connect, a consortium of site selection consultants, economic developers, and industry CEOs. She has also been honored as a Person to Watch by Florida Trend magazine. Under Lucienne’s leadership, the EDO secured several key-commitments: the sale of Murdock Village, over $2 billion in capital investment in Charlotte County, and over $3.2 million in grant funding for infrastructure improvements to support economic development. Since joining Kitson & Partners in 2018, Lucienne has been a key teammate in attracting projects and funding to Babcock Ranch, including securing $7M in funding from the FL legislature for the construction of a regional emergency shelter. In addition to attracting primary employers to create jobs in keeping with the Babcock Ranch vision for sustainability, Lucienne also works to support and grow the existing business community and focuses on long term strategies to keep Babcock Ranch at the cutting edge of Innovation.
Jon
Cropper
Jonathan Cropper
Jonathan Cropper is a respected luxury brand strategist, global creative director and futurist. Envisioneering and futurecrafting is his trade and passion.
Jonathan is the founder of Futurlogic Advanced Concepts, a highly confidential, business development, design, and branding studio.
Current areas of focus:
- Future of home-living
- Future of food
- Luxury 3.0
- Post-Covid, social impact entrepreneurship
- Immersive, interactive, content development
He has designed and implemented innovation strategies with the leadership of:
Aston Martin, Credit Suisse Private Bank, Airbus, Feadship, Sir David Adjaye, Four Seasons (Private Jet Program), Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, BIG Architects, S3 Architecture, ITV, Warner Bros / DC Comics, Hearst, Lockheed Martin, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Ralph Lauren, to name a few.
Futurlogic is also an agent representing Aston Martin Design, and is an experience design affiliate for NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab at CalTech.
Most recently, Jon was the Head of Global Real Estate, Aviation & Marine Partnerships for Aston Martin Lagonda.
In this unique role, he was responsible for creating the overall strategy, alliance formation, and execution of the brand’s expansion into these new verticals.
Jon began his career at MTV: Music Television, where he helped design the business plans for MTV’s expansion into Asia, Latin America, and South Africa.
After MTV, he was recruited by cultural icon Quincy Jones, to serve as Director of Business Development for his media company at Time Warner. He was responsible for sourcing and evaluating all multimedia and new venture opportunities.
Jon later joined Nissan North America as Senior Manager, Head of Youth and Urban Communications (a new internal unit that he created). In this capacity, Jon was responsible for all youth, multicultural marketing, and strategic alliances for both the Nissan and Infiniti brands. Jon efficiently managed a $100 million annual budget, and oversaw the production of dozens of multimedia communications campaigns.
Jon was recognized by Brandweek Magazine as the “Best Marketer Under 40 in America” for his marketing innovations.
He was also the Chief Marketing Officer for Badboy Worldwide Entertainment Group, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ collection of companies. During his tenure, Jon was instrumental in developing partnerships with Estee Lauder (launched the "Unforgivable" fragrance that became the #1 men's fragrance in the U.S.), Sprint, and Diageo (designed the repositioning strategy for Ciroc Vodka, one of the biggest successes in recent spirits industry history).
Prior to his role at Badboy Worldwide, Jon was an Executive Creative Director and Senior Vice President at Young & Rubicam Brands, where he led diverse creative teams, and formed an advanced mobile media and communications think tank. He designed and executed numerous campaigns for clients such as Sony, Vodafone, Starbucks, Telefonica, Jaguar and AT&T.
Jon received his BA in International Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He enjoys travel, multimedia art, collecting first-edition magazines, beautiful architecture, and science fiction.

Wendell P.
Weeks
Wendell P. Weeks
Wendell P. Weeks has served as Corning’s chief executive officer since April 2005 and chairman of the board since April 2007. He has been a member of the company’s board of directors since December 2000. As CEO, Weeks has focused on creating new growth drivers and building a bigger, stronger, and more agile company.
Weeks began his career with Corning in 1983 in the finance group. In his 40 years with the company, he has held a variety of financial, business development, commercial, and general management roles, including strategic positions in the company’s television, specialty glass, and optical communications businesses.
In 1996, Weeks was named vice president and general manager of Corning’s optical fiber business. In early 2001, he was named president of Corning’s Optical Communications division, where he led through both dynamic market growth and the subsequent challenges of market declines. Weeks became Corning’s president and chief operating officer in April 2002. In this role, he helped lead the company’s restructuring and return to profitability following the telecommunications industry crash. During his tenure as CEO, he has overseen acquisitions in Optical Communications, Life Sciences, and Display Technologies. He has also played an instrumental role in numerous innovations, including the development of Corning® Gorilla® Glass. Furthermore, he has earned 34 U.S. patents.
Weeks is a graduate of Lehigh University and earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University as a Baker Scholar. He serves on the board of directors at Amazon.com, Inc. and is a member of the Liveris Academy Honorary Board. He is also on the board of trustees for the Corning Museum of Glass and for the Institute for Advanced Study.
Weeks received Harvard Business School’s 2014 Alumni Achievement Award. In November 2014, he was awarded the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit from Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy for contributions to the display technology industry.

Mike
Orth
Mike Orth
Mike Orth is the president of the Governments and Environment market sector at Black & Veatch, which focuses on serving the needs of government clients at the federal, state and municipal level as well as the growing field of environmental services. During his 32 years with Black & Veatch, Mike most recently served as executive vice president and managing director of the company’s water business in the Americas, where he guided the company’s growth in supply, storage, treatment and conveyance. Mike was appointed to the Black & Veatch Board of Directors in August 2022.

Ashley
Maher
Ashley Maher
Ashley Maher joined the Charlotte Community Foundation in March 2017 as the Director of Development and Marketing. Shortly after in 2018, Maher served as the Interim Executive Director was named the new ED in August. The following year, Maher became Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation. Maher tripled the assets of CCF in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to provide significant year over year growth in assets while working through Hurricane Irma, the 2022 tornadoes, Hurricane Ian and Nicole.
Maher previously served as the Director of Marketing with Unity Medical in Port Charlotte. Prior to that served in a variety of employed roles for the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition, notably in the Volunteer Coordinator and Public Relations positions where she developed an extensive volunteer program for the over 600 unduplicated monthly volunteers and increased awareness and donations for the mission of the organization.
Maher has a history of previously serving on various nonprofit boards such as, The United Way of Charlotte County, Fred Lang Foundation, Senior Friendship Centers and O.C.E.A.N. Currently Maher serves as a trustee for Fawcett Memorial Hospital and as a Board member for, Gulf Coast Partnership-Vice Chair, Peace River Housing Community Partners- Vice Chair, Babcock Neighborhood Schools Advisory Committee, Charlotte Technical College, Community Organizations Active in Disaster, Co-Chair, Charlotte County Long-Term Recovery Steering Committee, Treasurer, City of Punta Gorda Charter Review Committee, Vice-Chair and the Economic Development Partnership of Charlotte County.
Maher is the loving mother of two young boys, Noah and Tanner. She enjoys volunteering and creating new experiences for her family, playing flag football and snowboarding in her spare time.

Diana
Zhou
Diana Zhou
Diana is a Venture Partner at Eclipse Ventures. Previously, Diana was the Senior Director of Global Business Development at Virgin Hyperloop and led the company’s go-to-market initiatives around the world to deploy and deliver hyperloop transportation projects through public-private partnerships with governments and private entities. Prior to joining Virgin Hyperloop, Diana was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman in New York, where she advised private sector companies and governments around the world on business and corporate strategies, risk and economic modeling, product development and market entry decisions, and strategic and regulatory trends. Previously, she was also a member of the Global Shapers community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Diana holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPA-International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School, where her focus was on the intersection of business, technology, and economic development. She received a grant from the Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation for her research on the development of an electric vehicle industry in China. She received her BA in Economics and International Studies from the University of Chicago.
Connect With Attendees
Welcome Reception
APRIL 19th | 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
All registered guests are invited to attend our opening reception at The Edison and Ford Winter Estates to meet fellow attendees and start cultivating connections. We’ve seen many new collaborative relationships arise following a chance meeting at one of our events, leading to fruitful and profitable new ventures. Tour the estates beforehand, or join your new friends for dinner afterwards in downtown Fort Myers.
Panels & Speakers
Meet The Innovators Forum
APRIL 20th | 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
Meet the Innovators Forum is an executive-level event which features short presentations involving diverse innovators and experts covering future focused subjects. The Forum is designed to stimulate participants’ thinking and create opportunities to make new connections.


Winning Products & Services
Innovators' Showcase
APRIL 20th | 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
The Innovators’ Showcase is held in conjunction with the Forum, giving guests an opportunity to enjoy a hands-on look at nominated products between sessions. Attendees can connect with fellow innovators and talk with the teams exhibiting their 2023 Edison Award winning products and services.
Honoring the best in innovation
Edison Awards Ceremony & Gala
APRIL 20th | 5:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Celebrate with fellow innovators while we recognize and honor the best in innovation and innovators. The 2022 Edison Awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze Winners will be announced and the prestigious Edison Achievement Award will be presented to Sir Jonathan Ive, Industrial & Product Designer at LoveFrom and Patrick Gelsinger, CEO of Intel.


experiential Learning
Community Day
APRIL 21st | 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Enjoy an educational day designed to engage students and the community at large in future-forward thinking! The event is open to the public but registration in encouraged.