The Tech Awards Gala 2008

On November 12, 2008, over 1400 esteemed innovators in the technology industry gathered to celebrate the power of technology to address global challenges and benefit humanity. At the 8th annual black-tie gala in San Jose, Calif., The Tech Awards, presented by Applied Materials and a signature program of The Tech Museum of Innovation, honored 25 technologists, educators, scientists and entrepreneurs who are using technology to improve our world. The 25 Laureates were chosen from hundreds of nominations representing 68 countries.

The Tech Awards Gala 2008 - November 12, 2008 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center

2008 Laureates	The Tech Award Trophy	Cellist Marston Smith and stilt walkers
Emcee Lisa Kim, Anchor of NBC Bay Area Evening News	Laureate Showcase	Laureate Showcase

Global Humanitarian Award - Professor Muhammad Yunus

The James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award, sponsored by Applied Materials, honors individuals whose broad vision and leadership are helping to address humanity's greatest challenges.

At the Gala, Professor Muhammad Yunus, pioneer of microcredit and founder of Grameen Bank, was the recipient of the 2008 Global Humanitarian Award. Often referred to as "the world's banker to the poor," Yunus developed a benchmark microcredit application through his Grameen Bank which allows the rural poor access to micro-loans for entrepreneurial enterprises, such as purchasing livestock and procuring weaving materials. Yunus' vision of a world without poverty has been the inspiration for his life's work. Yunus and Grameen Bank were awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for their significant contributions in the field of microcredit.

Read the press release announcing the 2008 Global Humanitarian Award recipient.

Category Awards

Five of the 25 Laureates honored by The Tech Awards 2008 were also awarded a $50,000 cash prize. The cash prize recipients-one from each category-hailed from the United States, Namibia, the United Kingdom and India. Each developed or adapted technology in creative ways to solve global problems. The recipients were:

Intel Environment Award Craig R. Barrett Chairman, Intel Dr. Laurie Marker Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF)	Accenture Economic Development Award David B. Rich Managing Partner, Accenture Hari Sharan DESI Power: Decentralised Energy Systems India	Microsoft Education Award Dan'l Lewin Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Randolph Wang Digital StudyHall
Fogarty Institute for Innovation Health Award Dr. Thomas Fogarty Founder, Fogarty Institute for Innovation Robin Bullock K1 'Auto Disable' Syringe, Marc Koska, Star Syringe, Ltd.	Katherine M. Swanson Equality Award Judy Swanson Founder, Swanson Foundation Dr. Elizabeth Hausler Build Change	Global Humanitarian Award Peter Friess President, The Tech Museum, Professor Muhammad Yunus Founder, Grameen Bank Michael Splinter President and CEO, Applied Materials, Inc.

Read more about the $50,000 cash prize recipients.

2008 marked the 8th year of The Tech Awards. Since it was founded, The Awards Program has honored 200 innovators from around the world and has awarded a total of $2,000,000 in cash prizes to encourage continued innovations and to honor the contributions Laureates are making in applying technology to solve global challenges.

Learn more about all 25 of the 2008 Laureates, or search our entire library of Laureate profiles, which include links to each Laureate's web site (if available).

Join us for The Tech Awards 2009 Gala!