Edison Awards 2023

EDISON AWARDS

Lee County hosts Edison Awards

Fort Myers welcomes global innovation event back for third straight year

Set on the scenic Caloosahatchee River in Southwest Florida, Lee County is known as the location of Edison-Ford Winter Estates, where Thomas Edison himself did some of his most innovative work in his on-site laboratory and botanical gardens.

The Edison Awards Executive Director Frank Bonafilia explained, “We’re essentially the Oscars of corporate innovation where we honor gamechanging new products and services on a global basis. Currently in its 36th year, this year the Edison Awards will have over 550 Chief Innovation officers in attendance from around the world, including Apple, Intel, Vantam Housing, Babcock Ranch and Spacemilk.”

Now, through a partnership between the Horizon Council, Horizon Foundation and the City of Fort Myers & Community Redevelopment Agency, Lee County also is the location where modern-day innovation is celebrated through the Edison Awards. Lee County is home to some of the most innovative companies in the United States, including several Edison Award winners.

In 2021, FGCU’s Dr. Sandra Kauanui accepted a Bronze Edison Award for Education – Dynamic Learning Platforms on behalf of the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship. Also in 2021, Arthrex, a Horizon Foundation member, earned an Edison Award. John Ciocca, a Florida Gulf Coast University entrepreneurship major, was among the 2021 Gold Edison Award winners for his product, youBelong Voice, an app that provides alternative augmentative communication to those with speech disabilities. Additionally, local students took part in

the Innovation Panel and Community Day, both in 2021 and 2022, and many Lee County businesses participated in panel discussions or as sponsors.

The next Edison Awards events will take place April 19 through 21 with a Gala on April 20 at the Luminary Hotel and Caloosa Sound Convention Center in the downtown Fort Myers River District.

This is the third year the event will be held in

Fort Myers. Bonafilia noted, “We’ll also be having exhibits of over 50 new products and be expanding our Community Day and certainly be more involved with the local community.” One way this will be accomplished, he continued, is by donating 100 laptop computers to students this year who might have a difficult time getting their own computers. He added, “We encourage people to go to www.edisonawards. com to get the most current information about the free Community Day on Friday, April 21.”

Experiencing a Storm of Innovation

Given the quick response and strong recovery of Southwest Florida following Hurricane Ian, Lee County will continue to be a spectacular place for the Edison Awards. The community’s resilience and innovative response to the storm has been nothing short of remarkable – and it will make Lee County a beacon as we focus on the sustainability opportunity, to look at regarding post-hurricane best practices for rebuilding the community. Thanks to swift action from government, local businesses and public-private partnerships, there has been a significant investment of resources for loans and business-recovery support. Many businesses quickly reopened or adapted their business model to continue their operations. Employees were retrained to serve in other capacities such as construction, recovery and repair roles. As a result, Lee County is recovering and continues to offer vistas and experiences that brighten and inspire innovative minds.

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“The Edison Awards are essentially building a bridge from the greatest innovation success stories of the past to today’s top innovators who are changing the world. We continue to build on Thomas Edison’s legacy by inviting the Edison Award winning teams to Fort Myers to celebrate their successes and learn from them.”

— Frank Bonafilia, Edison Awards Executive Director

EDISON AWARDS

Lewis Latimer Fellowship to name 2023 Fellows

The Edison Awards will also be announcing its 2023 Lewis Latimer Fellows. This accelerator platform is designed to celebrate, connect and bring together a community of innovative black thought leaders. Launched in 2022, the program, named in honor of Thomas Edison’s principal collaborator Lewis Latimer, embraces a core philosophy of driving innovation with profit with purpose.

Lewis Howard Latimer (1848–1928) was an African-American patent draftsman and inventor who worked with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison in the post-Civil War era. His name will be forever associated with two of the most revolutionary inventions of all time: the telephone and the incandescent electric light bulb.

By channeling Latimer’s spirit and genius, the Edison Awards recognized that it was time to fully celebrate and acknowledge black, modern-day innovators who remain largely hidden in the long shadows cast by cultural institutions that have benefited from their innovations.

The Edison Awards introduced this accelerator program for black innovators who show the same passion and dedication to innovation that Latimer demonstrated. Modeled after Y Combinator and the McArthur Genius Award, the Lewis Latimer Fellowship is designed to provide special access to the Edison Awards corporate innovation network, mentorship and capital to an annual cohort of six black innovators per year, connecting these brilliant minds to forward-leaning, innovative corporations that appreciate the power of diversity.

“It has become urgent that we create a new collective of modern-day black superheroes / role models that inject optimism into our culture,” says Jon Cropper, Co-founder of the Lewis Latimer Foundation. “We reviewed over 100 applicants in 2021-22 and found this initial ‘Friendship 6’ group best reflected Latimer’s vision and persona. Our dream is to ‘manufacture’ a community of future Latimers who embrace a core philosophy of “driving innovation with profit with purpose,” to grow the community of black innovators, and to encourage regular dialogue and idea exchange.

The inaugural Lewis Latimer Fellows included:

• Dario Calmese, photographer known for being the first African American to photograph the cover of Vanity Fair

• Ayanna Holloway Arce, Associate Professor of Physics at Duke University

• Rayvon Fouche, Division Director, Social and Economic Sciences – National Science Foundation and Professor of American Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Studies -Purdue University

• Audrey Bowden, Associate Professor of Bio-

Above: (l-r) Latimer Fellows Dr. Asegun Henry, Dr. Andrea Bowen, Dr. Ayana Arce, Dario Calmese and Byron Jones shown here with Fellowship co-founder Jon Cropper (4th from left), Carmichael Roberts (center) and Fellowship co-founder Frank Bonafilia (2nd from right). Left: Cropper smiles while Jones answers a question.

Below: Latimer Fellow Bowen.

medical and Electrical Engineering-Vanderbilt University

• Asegun Henry, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT

• Byron Jones, Cornerback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) Learn more at: https://edisonawards.com/latimer-fellowship.php

The future of water demands bold action

Without question, the water industry is evolving and facing new – and old – challenges: water scarcity, extreme weather and droughts, water quality and aging infrastructure, to name a few. The industry has a great opportunity to think differently about what the future of water will look like and how we get there.

only expected to worsen. Looking at the results of the Black & Veatch survey in light of recent water crisis-related headlines, it is clear the time for bold action is now.

BY MIKE ORTH Guest Columnist

Black & Veatch’s 2022 Water Report, based on expert analyses of a survey of more than 300 stakeholders in America’s water, wastewater and stormwater sectors, illustrates that water industry decision-makers are embracing change and the opportunity it presents.

A Snapshot of the Industry Today

The challenge of age was a major theme in the report, and it showed up in two main areas: workforce and infrastructure. As workers age out of the water utility industry and retire, taking their institutional knowledge of complex systems with them, there aren’t enough skilled workers to replace them. Aging water and sewer infrastructure, such as leaky pipelines, waste billions of gallons of water annually. Unsurprisingly, workforce-related issues were top of mind in the Black & Veatch survey rankings, with the challenge of hiring qualified staff now climbing to No. 2, behind aging infrastructure.

Another finding from the Black & Veatch report is

that sustainability and decarbonization have emerged as pressures the industry no longer can ignore. The need for sustainability – and how decarbonization can and should fit into sustainability goals – is at the forefront of conversations as water and wastewater utility decision-makers are more aware of the need to get greener. Overall, nearly two-thirds of respondents consider sustainability a critical strategic focus in the water sector, and 72% of respondents now say their enterprise has sustainability goals and means to measure them. Slightly more than half say separately they’ve adopted sustainability goals without pressure from community or regulatory forces.

New vision for future of water

Across the U.S. and in many other countries, water issues are becoming more prevalent and are

One way to do this is to reuse water and optimize every drop. The concept of wastewater being treated and reused as drinking water, while sometimes met with skepticism, is being employed throughout the world. These are safe and effective processes that leverage cutting-edge digital sensors that provide realtime feedback on water quality. With the right levels of investment and concerted efforts by civic leaders to overcome the public’s misconceptions around water reuse, water reuse practices have the potential to make a significant difference.

Another area to explore is to look for new sources of water. While desalination technology has existed for years, it is getting renewed interest as a response to recent extreme heat and drought. Desalination alone won’t solve the water crisis, but it is a valuable part of the effort to balance supply and demand challenges. Technologies continue to improve to address the environmental impact, costs and energy efficiency of desalination facilities.

While the Black & Veatch survey emphasizes the many challenges facing the water industry today, it also illustrates the opportunity to think in new ways about what is possible in addressing these pain points. With more investment and bold action, we can secure our water future.

Mike Orth is president of Governments and Environments at Black & Veatch. Contact him at (913) 4582000.

Smart transportation drives the future

BY DIANE ZHOU Guest Columnist

The movement of people and goods from place to place has been an inherent part of our lives throughout history. Transportation hubs have influenced the rise and fall of great cities and nations. From arterial roads built for horses and carriages emanating from the core of the Roman Empire, to ships and the waterways that powered Britain’s Industrial Revolution, to the rise of the personal vehicle and the creation of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System, the key to economic influence has long resided with those who control movement across land, air, and sea.

What will power the next major shift in transportation? Will it be autonomous robots, delivery drones, electric helicopters, or sidewalk robots? How do we rethink mobility to redesign the way we live in our future cities in a way that is affordable, equitable, and accessible while also being delightful and convenient? And what does smart transportation really mean?

The Economist recently reported that transportation patterns have shifted for good post-COVID, moving away from a hub and spoke system to a spi-

derweb pattern with fewer, shorter journeys. Now that people travel less predictably, there is a stronger case for mobility-as-a-service and on-demand buses and shared vans. We are at an age where sensors are cheap, high-speed networks are robust, data is plentiful, and machine-learning algorithms and dashboards allow us to recognize patterns and manage movement effectively.

Smart transportation systems focus on the movement of people and goods utilizing new and innovative modes and the physical and digital infrastructure that power these systems. When thinking through smart transportation areas, it is oftentimes important to understand the outcomes these technologies will

affect, rather than the pure capabilities of the technologies themselves. A self-driving car offers more productive hours in the day and safer roads, if implemented correctly. A decarbonized global trucking network can reduce greenhouses gases by more than 20%. Autonomous transport of goods can improve supply chains and resiliency. A high-speed magnetically levitating train allows one to work in one city while being able to return home to family at night in another. Shared mobility systems offer the potential to better utilize existing infrastructure assets.

The 2023 Edison Awards Smart Transportation categories welcomes submissions by companies working on these innovative products and services that enable the advent of the future of transportation.

Diane Zhou is a Venture Partner at Eclipse Ventures. Previously, Diana was the Senior Director of Global Business Development at Virgin Hyperloop and led the company’s go-to-market initiatives around the world to deploy and deliver hyperloop transportation projects through public-private partnerships with governments and private entities. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPA-International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School, where her focus was on the intersection of business, technology, and economic development.

Antenna Group named 2023’s Innovation Agency of Year

This year’s Edison Achievement Award Honorees truly embody innovation

Sir Jonathan Ive was the head of design at Apple,Inc. for 20+ years. He now leads LoveFrom, a creative collective of designers, architects, musicians, filmmakers, writers, engineers & artists.

Patrick Gelsinger has spent much of his career in Silicon Valley. With his leadership, Intel has become the preeminent microprocessor supplier and its expansion has led to the construction of multiple billion-dollar manufacturing plants.

For over 25 years, Antenna Group has unified industry insiders, strategic thinkers, and mission-driven marketers, PR, and public affairs professionals to amplify the stories of the world’s most exciting and disruptive companies across climate tech, real estate/ proptech, mobility and health.

Our unmatched domain expertise and global purview have enabled us to build compelling brands and achieve growth objectives with precision and creativity – all with the goal of elevating critical innovations and helping our clients’ solutions reach mass adoption (powering a new age we’re calling, the Age of Adoption). We are thrilled that this has resulted in many of our clients being recognized as Edison Award Finalists over the years, and in us receiving the inaugural Innovation Agency of the Year award.

“Antenna is privileged to work alongside the great innovators of our generation. We are eager to enable the adoption of critical, climate-saving solutions and are thankful to The Edison Awards for acknowledging Antenna’s successes, as well as those of our clients, as we advance this mission.” –

Christa Segalini, Chief Client Officer

In accepting this award, we make three promises to the community of companies driven by innovation that Antenna Group was founded to serve:

• We remain committed to telling the story of next gen climate innovation.

• We will use our expertise to propel the mass adoption of solutions that will enable a more sustainable future.

• We’re ready to tell your story.

Let’s get started.

For more information on the Antenna Group, visit antennagroup.com

SIR JONATHAN IVE Founder, LoveFrom; Former Chief Design Officer, Apple Inc.

PATRICK GELSINGER Chief Executive Officer, Intel

Inspiring Minds .... And Some of the Finalists Are

UBTECH Robotics Inc.

Innovation: Smart Elderly Care Solution for Nursing Homes

Category/Subcategory: Engineering & Robotics / Medtech

Established in March 2012, UBTECH Robotics is a world leading AI and robotics company. UBTECH’s footprints span humanoid robot’s research, manufacture and marketing. UBTECH focuses on AI technology and robotic advanced development, application and commercialization.

The company has developed many key robotics-related technologies over the years. Based on these advanced technologies, UBTECH launched a series of service robots for commercial and personal/family use respectively.

The idea was originated in 2018 to create a personal robot for assisting senior people. We transformed the idea from creating a single robot to integrating different types of robots, smart devices, sensors, and AI, based on the market research and interviews with administrators and caregivers. Most of the people wanted robots and AI to help them

Amber Semiconductor, Inc.

Innovation: AmberSemi’s Silicon Chip

at various life domains, which motivated the redesign of the robots and the design of the whole integrated solution. All robotic prototypes had the 2nd iteration based on the user feedback. The whole system was integrated with the software service platform and other smart devices in 2021 and validated at a real nursing home.

The whole solution provides assistance to the seniors in both physical and psychological ways. The seniors could be transported autonomously using PathFynder, assisted for walking and the physical rehabilitation using Wassi. They also get reminded of their agenda and could communicate naturally with Welli. The caregivers could send items, without walking, to people using OSDR and sensitive items using DR. All the robotic functions are automated coordinated and planned using the cloud service platform. This solution creates 24/7 service for nursing homes.

Category/Subcategory: Engineering & Robotics / Commercial Technology

Amber is a young Silicon Valley semiconductor company with technology breakthroughs in electricity. They found a way to control electricity through software – in silicon chips, replacing today’s standard 1950’s era electromechnical technologies, with safer, smaller, smarter (IoT, AI), more reliable and energy efficient silicon chips. It is a modernization of almost every product on earth that needs electricity, such as, circuit breakers, EV chargers, solar power systems, appliances, AC Direct Microcontrollers, AC Direct Wireless chips, light switches, motors smoke detectors, thermostats and so many more.

If Thomas Edison came back to life today,

he would be THRILLED that our building electrical infrastructure was based on his legacy discoveries…. Until he saw an iPhone or a PC…. He would then be appalled that we use old tech - metal parts opening and closing with dangerous arcs to manage electricity. Amber’s technologies, instead, use modern software, in silicon chips, to manage electricity.

Proven solid-state architecture (silicon chips) are more reliable, safer and vastly more intelligent and established for more than 60 years. Yet, electricity in the building electrical grid and electrical products have never seen this innovation, until Amber’s discoveries.

Product Motif, Inc.

Innovation: Nose It All™

Qnergy

Innovation: Qnergy CAP3Nano

Category/Subcategory: Sustainability / Clean Energy

This innovation started with NASA asking how to generate electricity on the moon! The extreme temperatures and cold preclude conventional rotary engines that require lubricants and frequent maintenance. And of course, in space there is no oxygen for combustion. The answer is a linear heat engine.

The context that gives the innovation life is the urgent need to eliminate methane from venting into the atmosphere. Scientists now know that for the first 20 years that methane is allowed to escape into the atmosphere, that it has 84X the warming effect of CO2. Therefore every lost molecule of methane is not just a lost economic opportunity as a useful fuel, but it is extremely harmful to the environment.

Today, Qnergy’s PowerGen 5650, a 5.65 kW external combustion engine produced from the original design de-

MicroTransponder® Inc.

Innovation: Vivistim® Paired VNS™ System

Category/Subcategory: Health, Medical & Biotech / Advanced Therapeutics

MicroTransponder®, Inc. introduces the FDAapproved Vivistim® Paired VNS™ System to help ischemic stroke survivors improve their hand and arm function 2-3 times more than traditional rehabilitation therapy in just 6 weeks. Now available at comprehensive stroke centers and rehabilitation centers across the country, Vivistim simultaneously pairs vagus nerve stimulation with physical or occupational therapy to help create or strengthen neural connections to improve upper limb function and increase the relevance of rehabilitation therapy.

Neurorehabilitation experts tout the Vivistim® System as a gamechanger because it is

Category/Subcategory: Health, Medical & Biotech / Advanced Therapeutics

Nose It AllTM was created to be the first patented, medical-grade oral device designed to stop nosebleeds at the source.

By tourniqueting the arteries responsible, bypassing the nasal cavity completely and allowing users to breathe freely, we created a solution for stopping nosebleeds that works up to 5x faster than any traditional treatment.

Nosebleeds are a common occurrence for 60M people each year in the US alone, with 15% of cases being chronic. While most nosebleeds are not a medical emergency, they are wholly unpredictable – messy, embarrassing, leaving sufferers to search frantically for a way to stop them fast.

Matt Ibarra, creator of Nose It All, was a chronic nosebleed sufferer himself, and father to three chil-

dren who all suffered chronic nosebleeds. On a summer camping trip in 2008 in the Sierra Nevadas, Matt’s 5-yearold approached him with a gusher of a nosebleed. Without wipes, tissues, or towels handy, a friend pulls out a napkin saying, “Let me try something I learned in the Boy Scouts,” and proceeded to roll a piece and place it under his son’s upper lip, pressing it upwards toward his nose. In minutes, the nosebleed stopped almost magically, while the boy breathed freely. All they had was that one napkin – and that’s all they needed.

Matt decided to design a device that would mimic and improve upon this technique that became Nose

It All’s patented “bite tab,” providing a hands-free, plug-free solution that works in as little as three minutes to stop a nosebleed completely.

the first innovation to enhance the effectiveness of stroke rehabilitation therapy and improve motor function in nearly 30 years. Every year about 800,000 people in the US have a stroke, and 60 percent of stroke survivors have persistent upper limb issues for 6 months or more. Americans spend nearly $8.2B on home healthcare for stroke with an estimated $17.5B in lost wages yearly. After 13 years of research, innovation, pre-clinical trials and a pivotal trial, the FDA approved the first-ofits-kind Vivistim System to treat moderate to severe upper extremity motor deficits so that ischemic stroke survivors can regain their ability to perform activities of daily living.

livered to NASA, can take any gaseous fuel and convert it into utility grade electricity and useful heat with no required scheduled maintenance for 80,000 continuous operating hours. Dubbed by NASA as “the longest running heat engine in the history of civilization,” the PowerGen provides reliable remote power anywhere we can access methane.

Now the other half of the innovation is combining the PowerGen with our constructed CAP3Nano. Qnergy designed the PowerGen CAP3Nano system to help energy clients eliminate methane emissions from offgrid natural gas wellpads.

Our results over hundreds of deployments show up to 20 tons of methane, 160 tons of CO2e abated each year per wellpad. Qnergy is helping the energy industry achieve net zero methane emissions for cleaner energy and a cleaner world.

Epicore Biosystems, Inc.

Innovation: Gx Sweat Patch

Category/Subcategory: Personal Technology (and Gadgets) / Smart Wearable

Our core technology was developed at Northwestern’s Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics. For decades, sports scientists and athletes have sought remote solutions to address the growing challenge of managing dehydration in athletes. Epicore Biosystems was incorporated in 2017 to tackle the personalized hydration management by developing a point of care wearable microfluidic device with onboard biosensors. We prototyped and gathered customer feedback with Gatorade labs, which resulted in the first ever wearable sweat sensor product – the Gx Sweat Patch.

Fitness enthusiasts and athletes can now track their hydration biomarkers instantly dur-

Endiatx

Innovation: PillBot™

Category/Subcategory: Game Changer

PillBot™ transforms a typical patient journey, one of gatekeeping, months of negotiation with insurance providers, test diets, drug regimens, and financial hurdles, into a simple zoom call from home. To date we are the only robot pill platform that operates under its own power, making PillBot™ a unique telemedicine offering.

The dream of micro-robotics inside the human body comes straight from the world of science fiction. If our ultimate goal is rice grain-sized brain surgeon robots, how do we get the adventure started?

We were inspired by the 2014 sale of the passive pill camera company Given Imaging to Covidien (now Medtronic). Our mission is to activate the pill camera by making it move under its own power, and to begin adding a series of tools to the platform to go beyond diagnostics into treatment. To date Pillbot™ by Endiatx is the only

ing physical exercise. The Gx Sweat Patch now enables personalized hydration management across different activities and environments in the real world.

By 2050 the world will see 50+ more high heat days per year, negatively impacting the health of everyone. Dehydration leads to significant performance degradation and chronic dehydration accumulates into negative long term health effects, similar to concussions. A low cost, non-invasive, ecofriendly, point of care diagnostic platform enabled by our wearable microfluidic technology provides enormous benefits, thereby by empowering people to take control of their daily health needs.

electronic capsule that can move under its own power outside of any hospital or clinic - perfect for telemedicine.

We also decided to make the upper endoscopy 10x cheaper, and 10x more accessible, treat patients with dignity, and catch cancers years earlier while we can still cure them!

We are currently testing Pillbot™ inside our own bodies. PillBot™ costs $50 to make and sells for $500 like a pill camera.

We transform the accumulated waste of an average of 5 trips to the hospital into just a few grams of plastic and e-waste. This is orders of magnitude less material impact on planet Earth.

PillBot™ brings world-class telemedicine to the far reaches of the world.

PillBot™ sets the stage for Pill Surgeon™, and beyond.

Edison Awards inspires innovation in our local youth

Special to SWFBT

Submitted by Karen P. Moore, Publisher

We’ve all heard the saying, “Innovators never stop asking why.”

The Edison Awards have taken this saying to the next level and are using numerous ways to encourage our youth of today to innovate, invent and inspire. To see how the Edison Awards are impacting local youth and encouraging innovation in our future generations, Community Day was created and takes place this year on Friday April 21 from 9:am – 1:pm. There is no admission fee and it is open to the entire local community. For more information, go to edisonawards.com .

Attendees are welcome to tour the Innovator’s Showcase, which includes new product exhibits from around the globe; watch a “Shark Tank” Professional Athletes Pitch Panel, meet the Young Edison Challenge winners and see the Student Pitch Panel. This year, the Edison Awards is also giving away 100 laptop computers, via a grant received from the Gates Foundation, to students who might otherwise be unable to purchase one.

Another way the Edison Awards is encouraging youth innovation is through the international Young Edison Challenge, sponsored by the Charlotte Community Foundation, which is based in Charlotte County Florida.

The Young Edison Challenge

The objectives behind the Young Edison Challenge, as part of the Edison Awards, are to build the winner’s resume and win funding for a project, while improving our communities and moving society forward through innovation.

Ashley Maher, Chief Executive Officer of the Charlotte Community Foundation, and which sponsors The Young Edison Challenge, has been a driving force behind the development of the Young Edison Challenge.

Maher joined the Charlotte Community Foundation in March 2017 as the Director of Development and Marketing. Shortly after in 2018, Maher served as the Interim Executive Director and was named the new Executive Director in August. The following year, Maher became Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation. Maher tripled the assets of CCF in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to provide significant year over year growth in assets while working through Hurricane Irma, the 2022 tornadoes, Hurricane Ian and Nicole.

She noted, “The foundation’s participation with the Edison Awards and the Young Edison Challenge specifically, is a testament to our foundation donors, who allow us to move forward, creating opportunities, making investments in people and the longterm.”

The Young Edison Challenge, Maher explained, came about because sponsors of the Edison Awards event asked the question, “How can we partner to better enhance and develop other areas of the Awards, such as encouraging innovation for our future, in our youth?” She noted that the next question to then answer was, “How can we create a safe space within the Edison Awards that inspires young minds to create, develop and grow innovative ideas?” She pointed out that 2022 was the first full year that included applicants. “We had over 60 applicants from 10 nations and 13 U.S. states.”

Ashley Kennedy, a Young Edison Challenge medalist, shared, “I was urged to apply for this award by my entrepreneurship instructor.” She continued, “Not only is it an amazing opportunity but it is also a good platform for a young person’s product and an amazing resource to have! It’s also kind of a built-in network for you and your company.”

as the catalyst that opened up opportunities for us to get involved in several other youth-focused innovation development programs.”

This includes the announcement on behalf of the Charlotte Community Foundation at last year’s Edison Awards that the first Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) High School in the State of Florida will be at Babcock Ranch, supported by Black & Veatch. CAPS, which is headquartered in Kansas, currently has more than 100 affiliate partners in 30 states. This project has taken years of collaborative work and Maher shared that they are hoping to roll out the CAPS program, which revolutionizes how we look at education and how it feeds the local economy, at Babcock High School this fall.

Clint Robinson of Black & Veatch and a founding board member of the CAPS program, explains, “Fundamentally, the CAPS program gives students ‘real world’ learning opportunities.” He continued, “Moreover, with the involvement of the local business community, the program can be customized to meet the workforce needs of each specific local community.”

Maher pointed out, “Shannon Treece, Executive Director at Babcock Schools, reached out to us for participation in both the Edison Awards and the CAPS program.” Not every high school that applies for participation is accepted by CAPS, she added, so for BHS to be accepted is quite an accomplishment.

Treece notes, “I love learning and serving in the field of education. I believe in educational reform and innovative learning experiences daily for the students entrusted to my care.”

munity, which provide both leadership and a strong foundation for the development of this program. It will be amazing to see what happens!”

The final event of the day, also encouraging youth innovation, is the Student Pitch Panel. Danny Aguirre, of Blue Waters Development Group, is returning this year as a panel judge. BWDG is behind many development projects in the local area, including Island Pearl, a commercial site positioned at the gateway entrance to the nature island communities of Matlacha Island and Pine Island, and Victory Park, an innovative 140-acre master-planned development located in the northeast region of Cape Coral.

Aguirre shared, “As a local company, we saw the many benefits to our region of supporting an event like this with a well-established and stellar international reputation. On top of that, this event supports education, innovation and entrepreneurship—which are all points we want to support here locally whenever we can.”

When asked how he became involved with Edison Awards Student Pitch judging, he replied, “Our company is heavily involved in supporting education in this region’s community, so it was a natural fit for me, and our company, to get involved.”

He continued, “Working with these students, and helping them to develop their innovative ideas into solid business plans, is key to our future success as a community.

(CAPS) High School Program

The Center for Advanced Professional Studies

Maher continued, “For the foundation, getting involved with the Young Edison Challenge served

Maher stated, “CCF, which provided the start-up costs for the program at BHS, is very fortunate to have these relationships with the teams at CAPS and Babcock High School, and our local business com-

So now is the time for our local business community to become involved in events such as this one— to collaborate and focus on developing our future workforce.” Aguirre concluded, “It is our local involvement in international and impactful programs like these that will shape our future pipeline for the local workforce.”

Above: Local students mingle with each other and visiting Edison Award winners. Below Left: 2022 Pro Athlete Pitch Panelists: Byron Jones, Miami Dolphins (right), answers an audience question while Brandon Rule (left) and Josh Childress, Retired Professional Basketball Player (center), look on. Below Right: The 2022 Young Edison Challenge sponsor and medalists at Community Day 2022. (l-r) Charlotte County Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Ashley Maher; Gold, Pria Sawhney, MA; Bronze, Maggie Zhang, Overland Park, KS; Silver, Sonia Patel, Naples, FL.

Maher

Aguirre Robinson

2023’s Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees

Patrick Gelsinger is CEO of Intel and serves on its board. On Feb. 15, 2021, Gelsinger returned to Intel, where he spent the first 30 years of his career. He began his career in 1979 at Intel, becoming its first chief technology officer and serving as senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group. He managed creation of key industry technologies such as USB and Wi-Fi and was architect of the original 80486 processor, led 14 microprocessor programs and played key roles in the Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon® processor families, leading to Intel becoming the preeminent microprocessor supplier.

Before rejoining Intel, Gelsinger was CEO of VMware, which he transformed into a recognized global leader in cloud infrastructure, enterprise mobility and cyber security – almost tripling the company’s annual revenues. Gelsinger

Sir Jonathan Ive KBE is a designer.

He joined Apple in 1992. As chief design officer, Jony was responsible for all hardware, user interface and packaging design, as well as the major architectural projects Apple Park and Apple retail stores. He led the design team for more than two decades, creating the iMac, PowerBook, MacBook, iBook, iPod, iPhone, iPad, AppleWatch, AirPods and HomePod.

Co-founder Steve Jobs referred to Jony as his creative partner.

He holds more than 14,000 patents worldwide, uniquely spanning both software and hardware design.

Born in London, Jony studied industrial design at college. He was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI)

was ranked by Glassdoor as the best CEO in America in 2019. Prior to joining VMware in 2012, Gelsinger was president and chief operating officer of EMC’s Information Infrastructure Products business, overseeing engineering and operations for information storage, data computing, backup and recovery, RSA security and enterprise solutions.

Gelsinger earned several degrees in electrical engineering: an associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute, a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree from Stanford University. He holds eight patents in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture and communications, is an IEEE Fellow, and serves as a member of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. He is also a published author and speaks frequently on faith, work and philanthropy.

in 2003, an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (HonFREng) in 2006. Jony was awarded the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2004 and the Professor Stephen Hawking Fellowship by the Cambridge Union Society in 2018. He holds honorary doctorates from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Rhode Island School of Design, University of the Arts London and the Royal College of Art, where he currently serves as chancellor.

In 2019, Jony and long-time friend and collaborator Marc Newson gathered the creative collective LoveFrom, which includes Airbnb, Apple and Ferrari amongst its first collaborators. Jony is frequently voted one of Britain’s most culturally influential figures.

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Support from Lee County’s private sector ensures a thriving business climate for Lee County. The Horizon Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization with the mission and purpose to support, foster and encourage the economic development and diversity of business interests in Lee County, Florida. The Foundation provides financial, advisory and other support for the Lee County Economic Development Office (EDO) and the Horizon Council as well as financial and other support to other organizations and entities that the Foundation determines will promote and complement the interests and mission of the Foundation, the EDO, and/or the Horizon Council. For more information visit www.leecountybusiness.com.

Known as the “City of Palms,” Fort Myers is a thriving destination on the Caloosahatchee rich in history, culture, commerce and nature. Since the early 1800s, settlers and visitors have sought out Fort Myers, most notably inventor Thomas A. Edison, who built his home, laboratory and botanical gardens between the river and McGregor Boulevard.

Meet professional athletes

Byron Jones and Winston Justice.

Experience live-demos of award winning innovations at the 2023 Edison Awards Community Day, as we remember that learning is a lifetime endeavor!

Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson shared, “As the city continues to grow in both emerging and established industries, we recognize that hosting the Edison Awards in our historic Downtown solidifies Fort Myers as a viable and exciting market for the world’s top companies. Fort Myers affords such companies a great location for growth, capable workforce, housing opportunities and high-demand lifestyle amenities. The lineup at this year’s Edison Awards is extraordinary and we look forward to hosting the event here for at least the next five years.”

Bonafilia noted, “The Edison Awards are essentially building a bridge from the greatest innovation success stories of the past to today’s top innovators who are changing the world. We continue to build on Thomas Edison’s legacy by inviting the Edison Award winning teams to Fort Myers to celebrate their successes and learn from them.”

Presented by:

Patrick Gelsinger

Jonathan Ive

Celebrating the spirit of Innovation and Invention as a proud supporter of the Edison Awards.

Blue Waters Development Group, LLC (“BWDG”) is a full-service real estate development company focused on Private Equity, Asset Management and Property Development services. The company is comprised of a diversified group of professionals with over 100 years combined experience in the Hospitality, Healthcare, Multifamily, Office, Retail, and Industrial sectors. The BWDG team excels at maximizing the valuation of assets by increasing productivity and gross revenues and lowering operational costs.

Our synergistic approach to each project allows true collaboration between our team, business partners and affiliates that enables the delivery of quality end-products that are unique to the market. BWDG is dedicated to sustainable growth, innovation and building healthy and strong partnerships.

Private Equity | Asset Management | Property Development