Selecting Technology Review’s yearly list of 35 innovators under the age of 35 is a difficult but rewarding process. We search for candidates around the world who are opening up new possibilities in technology, and then we seek the advice of a panel of expert judges before finally selecting the winners. We look for people who are tackling important problems in transformative ways. Sometimes that transformation comes from developing an entirely new technology, such as graphene transistors that could one day replace silicon devices in microprocessors. Sometimes it means using existing technologies in novel ways, such as creating an effective way for local businesses to advertise electronically or organizing social networks to build up a community of patients suffering from a disease. This is the 11th year we have chosen innovators under 35, and each year the young technologists, taken as a group, present a snapshot of how technology is changing. The 2011 TR35 are already shaping the future. We hope you find as much pleasure in reading about them as we did in writing about them.

See this year’s list of winners.