PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Inventors play a critical role in fostering innovation, strengthening economies, and addressing everyday problems and grand challenges around the world. Recognizing the critical role inventors play in society, AAAS and The Lemelson Foundation have partnered to highlight the human face of modern invention through the AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors Program.
Over the past four years, the AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors Program has built a community of 32 Invention Ambassadors who are empowered to raise awareness of the global impact of invention.
“Today we are pleased and proud to welcome the 2018-2019 class of AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors,” says Shirley Malcom, Ph.D., director of Education and Human Resources Programs at AAAS. “We expect that their energy and stories will excite audiences as they learn about the place of invention and innovation in our economy and in our lives.”
The new class of Invention Ambassadors represent the spirit of today’s inventors through their dedication to improving the world we live in and inspiring the next generation of inventors. They are a diverse group of eight inventors who are driving advancements in accessibility, security, healthcare delivery, and sustainability, among other areas. Members of this class include representatives of the public and private sectors, small businesses, academia, and Fortune 500 companies.
The program will provide platforms for this group to:
Inspire a new and diverse generation of inventors dedicated to solving difficult global challenges
Inform on the components needed to create inventions that sustainably solve global problems
Influence policy makers, thought leaders & public
The 2018 – 2019 AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors
Tyrone Grandison
Founder, Data Driven Institute
Jason Grieves
Senior Program Manager, Microsoft
Stephen Key
Co-Founder, inventRight
Mary Kombolias
Senior Chemist, US Government Publishing Office; and Guest Researcher, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Fang (Florence) Lu
Senior Solution Architect, IBM Research
Donald McPherson
Chief Science Officer, Co-Founder & Inventor, EnChroma, Inc.
Pratik Shah
Research Scientist, Principal Investigator Media Arts & Science, MIT Media Lab
Rachel Walker
Assistant Professor, UMass Amherst College of Nursing
This new class brings the number of inventors in the AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador community to 40, who together hold over 1,800 patents. AAAS and The Lemelson Foundation will welcome and celebrate the 2018-2019 Invention Ambassadors at an orientation at the AAAS headquarters, July 23 – July 25. On Tuesday, July 24th the 5th annual, “Celebrate Invention” event will take place at AAAS, where the Ambassadors will share their stories as inventors, introduce their inventions, and discuss their impact on regional and global problems.
Contact:
AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors Program
www.inventionamb.org
Email: nwhite@aaas.org
Twitter: @inventionamb