CONTAMINANTES
Awards honor innovation benefiting humanity: Martin Fisher and the non-profit organization he co-founded, ApproTEC, designed a simple, relatively inexpensive device that has helped thousands of poor Kenyans grow food far more efficiently and profitably than they could otherwise. [...]
ApproTEC's pump - which resembles a stair-stepping exercise machine - won in the economic development category, sponsored by Accenture, which provides management consulting and technology services. By pumping the gadget with their feet, farmers create a vacuum that can draw water from a 23-foot deep well and route it via a hose to a field of crops. [...] Here are the winners in the other four categories:
• The Nasdaq Stock Market Education Award went to Bunker Roy, of Rajasthan, India, for teaching India's illiterate poor a variety of technological skills involving everything from solar power to rainwater harvesting systems.
• The Knight Ridder Equality Award was won by Light Up the World Foundation of Calgary, Alberta, for using white-light-emitting diodes to create an affordable and efficient source of illumination for the rural poor.
• The Intel Environment Award was given to International SeaKeepers Society of Key Biscayne, Fla., for deploying monitoring gear on ships to provide real-time data on fish populations, weather conditions and the ocean's health.
• The JP Morgan Chase Health Award went to Andreas Plückthun of Zurich, Switzerland, for creating recombinant antibodies, which might eventually help combat cancer or other diseases.