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. 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.

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 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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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.”