Recognizing Game-Changing Innovations in STEM
Get Free Seed Money for Your Innovative Garage Projects! — A Reviewer and a Mentor’s Perspective on the Annual Bell Labs Prize Event.
What’s the Fuzz? Bell Labs is giving out FREE MONEY to those who came up with the greatest innovation. Almost everyone is eligible to apply (be over 21, have at least a Bachelor’s degree, and reside in one of the major countries that Nokia does operations in). Grand prize maxes out at $100,000 dollars, second prize is a not-so-shabby $50,000 and a third pat-on-the-back good job prize of $25,000 dollars! Not so bad considering all you got to do is showcase your idea, and prove to a board of world-renown experts that your idea is disruptive to STEM and that it works. The prize is given out as cash to the winner directly, minus Uncle Sam’s cut if you live in the U.S.
Other Perks: Besides the monetary motivation, publicity, a dazzling line on your C.V., and a sanity check on the impact and relevancy of your idea, other perks to consider applying are the valuable feedback that will augment your idea’s methodology and commercializability as well as the potential collaboration opportunities with scientists at Bell Labs or partnered through Bell Labs. All will aid in the advancement of your innovation if you really believe in it, and that it will get the validation that it deserves.
The Process: The application window typically starts in the spring, a time of rigorous screening process that goes through thousands of applications. As one of the many reviewers on a tier of the review panels, it is always a thrill ride for me as I savored through some of the world’s most creative thoughts, ideas, and imaginations. Most of the time, I marveled at people’s creativity and genuine faith in their innovation, other times, some ideas can bring me to the edge of my seat with chills, laughs, cries, and even scares. A very nice touch by the Bell Labs selection process is that the applicant is never really alone in the process. After passing what I called the “Not-a-Ridiculous-Idea” Stage: essentially filtered proposals that are professionally presented with ample scientific evidence, support, and potential for realizability get to move forward in the competition process, the applicants are mentored by one or more Bell Labs scientists in their field of scientific investigation. If you don’t think Bell Labs' research has such a diverse and large breadth of scientific coverage, then you are in for a surprise. Most of Bell Labs’ research doesn’t have an outlet for publicity, they have hidden away, innovating behind the theme so to speak, something our new organization is helping to change right now. The final stage of the candidate competition starts in November when a number of final candidates are selected for the final pitch to a board of renowned scientists. This year, 6 finalists were chosen, and I had the pleasure of serving as a Bell Labs’ Research Partner or BLRP for one of the finalists.
Making a Splash: In a splashy public event, Bell Labs announces the final winners of the competition, giving out big checks to those who will take home the cash money totaling $175,000. Through various media outlets, the top 3 winners are introduced one by one, with each of us at our seats, we awaited the judges’ decision counting backward from third to first prize. As BLRPs, we don’t get a cut from aiding our candidates in winning, only the genuine belief in the potential realizability of their disruptive technology to benefit mankind in a positive way. And of course, after they win, and if they choose to, we collaborate to help realize the grandiose goals.
Close the Curtains: Unfortunately, due to copyright and infringement protection, none of the presentations and proposals can be made public. Those of which are public can be found through Bell Labs’ website.
The Judges: In 2021, all of the judges have an extensively long list of credentials, and their names are very well known in their respective STEM fields. They differ every year to form a diverse opinion and knowledge to the board of decisions. This year’s judging panel consists of Alfred V. Aho, a Lawrence Gussman Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Columbia University, an expert on algorithms and data structures, programming languages, compilers, and the foundations of computer science; Margo Seltzer, Chairman in Computer Systems and the Cheriton Family Chair in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, an expert in broad systems of data and file processing; Kaushik Sengupta, an associate professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Princeton University, known for his work on electronic and photonic integrated systems for various applications in sensing, imaging, and high-speed communication. Then we have Theodore (Tod) Sizer, who is the Executive Vice President of Optical Systems and Device Research in Nokia Bell Labs, leading teams innovating in all aspects of optical systems and devices for core, submarine, and data center communications; Peter Vetter, the President of Bell Labs Core Research and Bell Labs Fellow who leads an eminent global research organization with the mission to create game-changing innovations that define the future of networks and insure portfolio leadership for Nokia’s core business. Lastly, we have Robert W. Wilson, a Senior Scientist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge Massachusetts.
2021 Winners: This year, our first prize went to Dr. Asegun Henry from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, his proposal on developing a low-cost energy storage technology based on carbon to replace the conventional Li-ion battery is truly innovative. The second prize went to Yale University Professor Amin Karbasi and Summary Analytics Chief Experience Officer Mehraveh Salehi. They swoop the judges off their feet with the notable idea of mapping the human brain to the point of a thought through a combination of artificial intelligence and fMRI data. As a biomedical scientist, I wish I had the pleasure of serving as their BLRPs so I may truly appreciate the neural aspect of their proposal, but I’ve heard that their AI approach to realize that hefty goal is just top-notch. The third prize went to support the agriculture industry through insect detection and screenings, achieved by the University of California at Riverside computer science professor Eamonn Keogh and FarmSense CTO Shailendra Singh, where the pair developed deployable techniques to differentiate insects, even their sexes based on remote sensors.
Notable Mentions: 3 other finalists, unfortunately, did not win a seat on the top 3 list, however in my opinion, they all present equally stellar research with notable disruptions. However, with a personal bias, due to my familiarity of the scientific background in biomedical engineering, I truly thought University of Pennsylvania professor David Issadore of the department of Bioengineering’s proposal on Mobile phone-based Lab Test was one of a kind disruption that needs to be recognized and supported, especially with the recent outbreak of a COVID-19 pandemic, which elevated the urgency and importance of precision point-of-care diagnostics. His research in the field is well recognized, and one can appreciate it on his research website here. The rest of the runner-ups are Jan Hesselbarth and Utpal Dey of the University of Stuttgart in Germany, and Swarun Kumar from Carnegie Mellon University here in the USA.
Bell Labs Prize is an annual event, if you believe you have a great idea, and you want to actualize it, then go through the application process with the attitude of serious consideration, rather than the “I will see what happens” mentality. If you don’t take it seriously, neither will we. So don’t waste on a good idea that you are working on now, apply, and make it fly because it rhythms.
