Nominees culled from public submissions or by MIT Technology Review's editors; outside judges rated originality and impact of work
MTL PhD alumni Miles Barr, 30, and David He, 28, are among the names found on this year's edition of MIT Technology Review's notable "35 Innovators Under 35" feature. The selection is made from reader submissions and Technology Review editors' picks. A panel of 19 technology experts made the choice from 80 finalists.
Miles Barr is the founder of Ubiquitous Energy, an MIT-based startup producing transparent solar cells. In grad school (working under the supervision of Prof. Vladimir Bulović), he showed off his "solar cells printed on paper by folding the sheet into a paper airplane and attaching electrical leads to demonstrate that it could generate electricity," according to his Technology Review citation. He has demonstrated their use in portable electronic devices and hopes to have his solar panels integrated into existing assembly lines for electronic devices.
David He has created a watch that can monitor blood pressure more effectively than other devices on the market, giving rise to a start-up called Quanttus. While pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Charles Sodini, he accidentally stumbled upon a better way to monitor blood pressure than his original idea of a wearable ECG. Instead, "what He tracked was actually a ballistocardiogram, or BCG, which is a mechanical signal indicating the tiny body movements that result as the heart pumps blood," stated Technology Review. Quanttus' watch-like device can be used to deduce heart rate, while an accelerometer measures the body movements that occur as a result of heartbeats.