Category: News & Articles

In addition to the Edison Awards, this year the Awards Committee created the inaugural program, Lewis Latimer Fellowship. Channeling the spirit of Thomas Edison’s principal collaborator Lewis Latimer. Lewis Howard Latimer (1848–1928) was an African-American patent draftsman and inventor who worked with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison in the post-Civil War era. His name will be forever associated with two of the most revolutionary inventions of all time: the telephone and the incandescent electric light bulb. The Latimer Fellowship Program is a new platform designed to Celebrate, Connect and Commune a community of innovative Black thought leaders. “It has become urgent that we create a new collective of modern day Black superheroes / role models that inject optimism into our culture,”says Jon Cropper, Co-founder of the Lewis Latimer Foundation. “We reviewed over 100 applicants over the past year, and found this “Friendship 6” group that we felt best reflected Latimer’s vision and persona. Our dream is to “manufacture” a community of future Latimers that embrace a core philosophy of “driving innovation with profit with purpose.”The Lewis Latimer Fellows include:

• Dario Calmese, photographer known for being the first African American to photograph the cover of Vanity Fair
• Ayanna Holloway Arce, Associate Professor of Physics at Duke University
• Rayvon Fouche, Division Director, Social and Economic Sciences – National Science Foundation and Professor of American Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Studies -Purdue University
• Audrey Bowden, Associate Professor of Biomedical and Electrical Engineering-Vanderbilt University
• Asegun Henry, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT
• Byron Jones, Cornerback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL)

Learn more at: https://edisonawards.com/latimer-fellowship.php

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For additional media inquiries please contact:Jason Wiley, TID Agency, jason@thisisdope.net

The 2022 Edison Awards will showcase some of the world’s top innovation leaders and new products from around the globe. The event will be hosted at the beautiful Luminary Hotel and the Caloosa Sound Convention Center located in the Fort Myers River District. Hundreds of the world’s top innovators will descend on Fort Myers to participate in the event and experience the Southwest Florida culture and local attractions.

The Edison Awards™ is an annual honor designed to recognize excellence in new product and service development, marketing, human-centered design and innovation. Started in 1987 and named after Thomas Edison, the vision of the Edison Awards is guided by his legacy and vision and his Menlo Park team who successfully brought an unprecedented number of innovations to the market. Edison Award recipients represent “game changing” products, services, excellence and leadership in innovation around four criteria: Concept, Value, Delivery and Impact. “The Edison Awards were founded to highlight true innovation in business. As an organization, we  continue to find and promote the most innovative people and inventions in business,”commented Frank Bonafilia, Executive Director of The Edison Awards. “We are excited about our recipients this year as they represent some of the most transformative applications in the workplace and community. We will continue to highlight current visionaries and usher in the next generation of innovators.”

Former Edison Achievement Honorees include Ted Turner, Steve Jobs, Martha Stewart, Elon Musk and more. 2022 Edison Achievement Honorees Award recipients this year are

• Bracken Darrell, President and CEO of Logitech
• Carmichael Roberts, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Material Impact and Co-Lead, Investment Committee of Bill Gates, established Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

The other award winners can be found on the website at https://edisonawards.com/winners2022.php

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For additional media inquiries please contact: Jason Wiley, TID Agency, jason@thisisdope.net

The Young Edison Challenge has announced its student winners for the 2022 season. These student innovators brought to life Edison’s values by providing innovative solutions to problems displayed within their communities.

GOLD WINNER

Vizuell
by Pria Sawhney
Lexington High School, MA

Vizuell is an alcohol-based, verifiable hand-sanitizer that decolorizes after initial application. Through temporary visual cues, health care workers can ensure total hand coverage, and the casual observer can verify proper sanitization. Vizuell works to tackle healthcare-associated infections and transmission of COVID-19.

SILVER WINNER

Silicone Eye Applanation Model (S.E.A.M)
by Sonia Patel
Community School of Naples, FL

The Silicone Eye Applanation Model is a physical model of the human eye utilizing proprietary silicone to simulate the cornea. The goal is to train ophthalmic medical assistants how to measure eye pressure without using human subjects to reduce corneal injuries. Secondary goal is to raise awareness of the number one cause of irreversible blindness–glaucoma.

BRONZE WINNER (TIE)

iCane
by Rian Carter and Umi Arora
Illinois Math and Science Academy, IL

iCane is a combination of technology and mobility devices that empowers senior citizens and cane users with safety and confidence to live their lives. Using its unique features and partner app, iCane essentially eliminates the need to carry a phone or download any location tracking apps.

BRONZE WINNER (TIE)

HIV Medication Oral Thin Film for Pediatric Oral Delivery
by Maggie Zhang
Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies, KS

This innovation is an oral thin film strip formulation of HIV medication to optimize pediatric oral delivery in sub-Saharan African countries. The current World Health Organization-approved HIV antiretroviral therapy regimen allows for a high chance of dosing error, is indiscreet, and is difficult to transport. An oral thin film strip formulation of HIV drugs would allow for a better solution.

Babcock Ranch received the Pivot & Persist award from the Florida Economic Development Council at the 2021 Annual conference held in Orlando October 13-15.

FEDC hosts the Florida Economic Development Conference each year and takes the opportunity to recognize Florida’s best economic developers during the conference.

2020 disrupted nearly everything in economic development and hit local businesses especially hard; however, with crisis comes the opportunity to innovate and pivot, staying true to established goals under unprecedented circumstances. This award is to recognize those EDOs who rose to the occasion and persisted, demonstrating dedication and commitment to the local economy while proving to be a critical resource during the crisis and into recovery. Examples may include crisis communications efforts, recovery campaigns, attraction campaigns, and support of local employers and/or partners.

Established in 1987, The Edison Best New Product Awards™ recognizes excellence in new product and service development, marketing, human-centered design, innovation excellence and leadership. The competition is open to innovative organizations across the globe, and each year a diverse field of finalists ranging from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies convene for presentation of the prestigious awards. When the Edison Awards agreed to move the annual event to Fort Myers for three years beginning in 2021, we saw an opportunity to reach key decision-makers for the type of companies we’re working to attract to our innovative, sustainable new town. By coming on board as a sponsor, we would have a prominent speaking role during the traditional educational forum and innovators showcase to be held at the conference leading up to the awards gala. We were able to expand on that by securing an opportunity to host a tour of Babcock Ranch as one of the optional field trips offered for attendees on the day following the awards.

In early March, with registrations for the April 22nd event severely lagging due to corporate restrictions on attendance and participation in indoor events due to COVID-19, the Edison Awards team had two options – take everything online, or find an outdoor venue to accommodate a hybrid live/digital edition of the 2021 Edison Awards. A visit to Babcock Ranch on March 6th sparked the idea of boosting attendance by making the “Meet the Innovators Forum” an outdoors Earth Day Celebration at the world’s first solar-powered town. With just 45 days notice, we embraced the challenge to pivot into the role of primary host of a hybrid live/live-streamed production reaching a global audience.

Educational presentations and panel discussions, moderated by renowned PBS and CNN journalist Miles O’Brien, took place under the band shell for the outdoor audience as well as digital attendees around the globe. The Edison Awards replaced its traditional trade show exhibition hall with socially-distanced field trips showcasing key competitive advantages of Babcock Ranch. While pre-recorded segments streamed to the global live-stream audience, we were able to do industry-specific deep-dive familiarization tours providing small group immersion experiences in targeted sectors of STEAM education, sustainable technologies and green energy.

In addition to the live and digital audiences reached via the live-stream program, video segments showcasing innovations recognized with 2021 Edison Awards, including Babcock Ranch, were part of a half-hour program produced and distributed by Miles O’Brien. The Babcock Ranch feature story also aired on NPR’s Evening Edition newscast.

The pivot to an outdoor event proved successful in boosting live participation. More than 200 key influencers made the trip to Babcock Ranch for the Earth Day event, including decision makers for targeted industry leaders such as Arthrex, Ampaire, Lanzatech, Black & Veatch, EcoSpears, Redwire and FutureLogic.

In case you missed it, 2021 Edison Awards host Miles O’Brien profiled Syd Kitson and Babcock Ranch as a part of a PBS NewsHour series “Covering Climate Now.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/

FORT MYERS, Fla. (PRWEB) April 08, 2021

The Edison Awards is pleased to announce Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) as a new gold sponsor for its 2021 Edison Awards. In its 34th year, The Edison Awards recognizes international innovation and entrepreneurship in 15 categories. The event will be held in Fort Myers as a hybrid virtual and in-person experience from April 21-23, 2021, including an Earth Day celebration at Babcock Ranch, America’s first solar-powered town in partnership with FPL.

“We’re looking forward to a long and successful partnership with FPL,” said Edison Universe Executive Director Frank Bonafilia. “There are a number of unique opportunities that exist between the Edison Awards’ support for innovation and FPL, including their new 35 Mules innovation hub.”

In September 2020, 35 Mules – an innovation hub powered by FPL – opened its doors in Juno Beach, Fla., welcoming six early-stage companies in the energy, water and energy-adjacent industries. The startups are utilizing more than 90 years of FPL and NextEra Energy insights, skills and solutions to help bring their brightest ideas to life faster, smarter and at scale further supporting the state’s economic growth and flourishing business environment. 35 Mules offers each of the startup companies a dedicated workspace on campus, access to subject matter experts, executive coaching, and a grant to put toward their ventures. Applications for the second cohort will open in summer 2021.

“Our goal with 35 Mules is to foster innovation by attracting the best startups and entrepreneurs from around the world and help them grow their businesses right here in Florida,” said Crystal Stiles, senior director of economic development. “We know Florida is the best state in the nation to live, work and build your business. We look forward to welcoming the Edison Awards to the Sunshine State and showcasing all of the resources our state has to offer.”

FPL is the largest energy company in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold and serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts or more than 11 million residents across Florida. Its team is committed to delivering America’s best energy value to its customers – electricity that’s not just among the cleanest and the most reliable in the country, but also affordable. Its parent company, NextEra Energy, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and is a world leader in battery storage.

Babcock Ranch developer Kitson & Partners and FPL partnered and broke ground on the FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center in 2015. The solar energy center now delivers emissions-free energy to FPL’s energy grid, powering Babcock Ranch and beyond. In 2018, FPL created the largest combined solar-plus-storage facility operating in the U.S. when it added a 10-megawatt battery storage system to the FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center. The system captures energy generated by the solar energy center and stores it for later use, improving reliability for thousands of local homes and businesses. In 2020, the FPL Babcock Preserve Solar Energy Center came online, creating a total of 150 megawatts of solar power generated at the ranch.

For more information on Edison Awards, including both virtual and in-person ticketing options, visit edisonawards.com.

Edison Awards
Over the last 34 years, being recognized with an Edison Award has become one of the highest accolades a product can receive in the name of innovation success. The awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) whose inventions, new product development methods, and innovative achievements changed the world, garnering him 1,093 U.S. patents and making him a household name around the world. The Edison Awards are operated by Edison Universe, a 501c3 non-profit organization with the mission of recognizing, honoring and fostering innovations and innovators. For more information on attending go to http://www.edisonawards.com

Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold, serving more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S. and in 2020 won the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Excellence Award, presented by PA Consulting, for the fifth time in the last six years. The company was recognized in 2020 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Escalent for the seventh consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune’s 2020 list of “World’s Most Admired Companies.” NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: NextEraEnergy.com, FPL.com, NextEraEnergyResources.com

FORT MYERS, Fla., March 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/

The Edison Awards is pleased to announce a solar-powered Earth Day event as a part of its 34^th annual awards celebration. A full day of educational activities – both live and virtual – will take place on April 22, 2021, at Babcock Ranch, America’s first solar-powered town, and will be powered by Florida Power & Light Company (FPL). Both companies are also new sponsors of the 2021 Edison Awards.

“We are really looking forward to hosting this one-of-a-kind, innovative event with two of our great partners and biggest players in the field of solar energy,” said Edison Universe Executive Director Frank Bonafilia. “The outdoor venue space at Babcock Ranch has allowed us to follow COVID-19 precautions. What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to safely educate our attendees about solar energy within a community that thrives on it?”

Babcock Ranch developer Kitson & Partners and FPL partnered and broke ground on the FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center in 2015. The solar energy center now delivers emissions-free energy to FPL’s energy grid, powering Babcock Ranch and beyond. In 2018, FPL created the largest combined solar-plus-storage facility operating in the U.S. when it added a 10-megawatt battery storage system to the FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center. The system captures energy generated by the solar energy center and stores it for later use, improving reliability for thousands of local homes and businesses. In 2020, the FPL Babcock Preserve Solar Energy Center came online, creating a total of 150 megawatts of solar power generated at the ranch.

“We are thrilled to support the Earth Day celebration at Babcock Ranch, home of the nation’s largest solar-plus-storage system powered by FPL, alongside Edison Awards for its 2021 conference,” said Crystal Stiles, senior director of economic development for FPL. “Investments and partnerships like these demonstrate FPL’s continued commitment to a more innovative and sustainable future for Florida.

Attendees of the Edison Awards Earth Day event will have the opportunity to hear from a number of innovators and experts in science and technology during the Meet the Innovators panel sessions. Panelists include Syd Kitson, Chairman & CEO Kitson & Partners; Matt Valle, FPL’s Vice President of Development; Mario Azar, President Global Power Business at Black & Veatch; Reinhold Schmieding, Founder and President of Arthrex, Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech to name a few.

“The speakers at this event are real changemakers who are reinventing a more sustainable future for our planet,” said Syd Kitson, Chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners. “We can’t think of a better way or a better place to celebrate Earth Day.”

For more information on the 2021 Edison Awards event attendance, finalists and exhibiting, go to www.edisonawards.com.

For media inquiries, please contact Lisa Hall at lisa@hallmediastrategies.com

Edison Awards
Over the last 34 years, being recognized with an Edison Award has become one of the highest accolades a product can receive in the name of innovation success. The Edison Awards are operated by Edison Universe, a 501c3 non-profit with the mission of recognizing, honoring and fostering innovations and innovators. For more information go to www.edisonawards.com.

Babcock Ranch
Babcock Ranch was created by Kitson & Partners with respect for the natural environment and the philosophy that smart growth and sustainability work hand in hand. Half of the town’s 18,000-acre footprint is set aside as greenways, parks and expansive lakes, providing recreation and scenic backdrops for Babcock Ranch’s planned 19,500 homes and the Founder’s Square downtown district.  For more information about America’s first solar-powered hometown located just northeast of Fort Myers visit www.BabcockRanch.com.

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the U.S. as measured by retail electricity produced and sold. The company serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. FPL won the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Excellence Award, presented by PA Consulting, in 2020 for the fifth time in the last six years. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc., a clean energy company that has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune’s 2021 list of “World’s Most Admired Companies.” NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage.

SOURCE Edison Awards; Florida Power & Light Company