Sensors & Electronics
Awards & Recognition
Discover Awards: Additional Information
The Discover Magazine Awards for Technological Innovation are presented by the Christopher Columbus Foundation. The magazine launched the first Awards for Technological Innovation in 1990 "to recognize the all-too-often neglected men and women behind the technologies that impact our lives."
Each year Discover accepts thousands of nomination forms from all over the world. To select the winners, Discover's editorial staff first scours the scientific literature and other forums for new and interesting products and ideas. Discover also solicits entries from virtually every technology-based company and research institution. Many other nominations are sent in by readers and the public at large. The editorial staff then selects finalists from the nominated innovations. Information on each of the finalists in the Discover Awards is then sent on to an independent panel of experts, which helps select winners in key areas of technology.
A $100,000 fellowship is presented by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, an independent federal agency established by Congress in 1992 to "encourage and support research, study, and labor designed to produce new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind." The Christopher Columbus Foundation chooses one innovation from all entries to receive the prize, which recognizes an attempt to improve the world through ingenuity and innovation. The award honors individuals whose creative genius improves the quality of everyday life and alerts us to what's next from the frontiers of human achievement and ingenuity.