Innovators Under 352019
It’s part of our ethos that technology can and should be a force for good. Our annual list of 35 innovators under 35 is a way of putting faces on that idea. In these profiles you’ll find people employing innovative methods to treat disease, to fight online harassment, and to create the next big battery breakthrough. You’ll find people using AI to better understand neurological disorders and to make cities more livable. This year's list shows that even in our hard, cynical world, there are still lots of smart people willing to dedicate their lives to the idea that technology can make a safer, fairer world.
Inventors
Silvia Caballero
Training helpful bacteria to fight the world’s most dangerous pathogens
Dawei Di
His LED materials are cheaper and easier on the environment than ones now in use
Olga Dudchenko
She created a better way to sequence a genome
Abhinav Kandala
Paving the way for quantum-computer-powered drug and material development
Marc Lajoie
Programming white blood cells to fight cancer
Ritu Raman
She’s developed inchworm-size robots made partly of biological tissue and muscle
Isaac Sesi
He created an affordable fix for one of the most vexing problems for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa
Brandon Sorbom
His high-temperature superconductors could make fusion reactors much cheaper to build
Archana Venkataraman
We still don’t know much about neurological disorders. She’s using AI to change that.
Entrepreneurs
Anurag Bajpayee
His approaches can treat dirty wastewater and can make desalination more efficient.
Jason Buenrostro
A tinkerer figures out how to tell which genes are active inside a cell
Vivian Chu
Her robots do some of the grunt work so hospital staffers can spend more time with the patients
Tim Ellis
Developed a massive 3D metal printer—for building an entire rocket
Kathy Hannun
Working to make geothermal energy practical
Qichao Hu
On the cusp of the next big battery breakthrough
Riana Lynn
Using AI to make packaged foods better
Visionaries
Raluca Ada Popa
Her computer security method could protect data, even when attackers break in
Noam Brown
He’s making artificial intelligence better by having it play poker
Camille Francois
She uses data science to detect disinformation and organized harassment campaigns
Guosong Hong
His probes could revolutionize brain treatments
Patrick Hsu
Making CRISPR more flexible to treat brain disease
Azalia Mirhoseini
She taught an AI to design AI chips
Kimberly Stachenfeld
She used reinforcement learning to better understand problem solving in both the human brain and AI systems
Liang Xu
Using AI to make cities more responsive to their residents
Humanitarians
Pioneers
Rediet Abebe
She uses algorithms and AI to fight socioeconomic inequality
Cesar de la Fuente
Digitizing evolution to make better antibiotics
Nicole Gaudelli
She found a better way to correct single-gene mutations
Grace Gu
She’s using AI to help dream up a new generation of lighter, stronger materials
Song Han
Making the software that lets powerful AI programs run more smoothly
Jinxing Li
His tiny robots can be programmed to treat infection
Mariana Popescu
She developed a construction process that turns knitted textiles into concrete buildings—saving money, carbon, and time
Wojciech Zaremba
He taught a robot hand how to figure out things on its own