“Boldly go where no man has gone before.”—Gene Roddenberry
The previous chapter established the need for expanded research and development and explored some of the opportunities for innovation. This chapter considers a few of the people and organizations that may have a significant impact on America’s future well-being. As learned earlier, it is nigh on impossible to predict who is going to make the big discovery or invention. Recall that only one, out of a great many ideas, ever makes it through R&D into the marketplace. Moreover, out of those that do make it to the marketplace only a few are very significant—change paradigms or create new industries. In an interview for an article in Technology Review, “Making Gasoline from Bacteria,” Craig Venter, a researcher in biofuels, aptly stated, “We need a hundred, a thousand solutions, not just one. I know at least a dozen groups and labs trying to make biofuels from bacteria with sugar.”
As Craig indicated, there are many researchers and innovators who are pursuing their passions and are at least as worthy of mention as those that are represented in this chapter. Selecting the researchers and organizations that this chapter acknowledges was neither scientific nor comprehensive. The Internet sites of Scientific American, Technology Review, and Popular Mechanics provided the lists of top innovations and innovators. Literally hundreds of innovators are worthy of inclusion. The actual researchers and organizations selected for inclusion were those that addressed opportunities discussed in the previous chapter, had the potential of significant impact, offered an engaging story, and when considered with the others represented a cross section of research. Each of the selected people or organizations was sent a copy of a proposed vignette about them and their research with a request to correct and enhance the vignette. More than half of those contacted responded, which led to significant improvements in the content of this chapter. The intent of the vignettes is to
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