From a solution to repurpose cold plasma to treat seeds to 3D printed living seawalls, the eighth annual awards honor new and inspiring solutions to the most daunting challenges of today.
PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The winners and honorees of Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, highlighting fresh sustainability initiatives, cutting-edge AI developments, ambitious pursuits of social equity, and other creative projects that are helping mold the world.
Aionics was selected for its pioneering work in using artificial intelligence and quantum mechanical simulation to design better batteries. Since its founding in 2020 by Drs. Austin Sendek, Venkat Viswanathan, and Lenson Pellouchoud, Aionics has led the charge in building “AI scientists” capable of interpreting battery performance data with superhuman intelligence and using these insights to dream up brand new battery materials. Last year, Aionics announced a major partnership with Cellforce Group, the battery manufacturing subsidiary of Porsche, and just last month was named to the CB Insights 2024 “AI 100” list recognizing the 100 most promising private AI companies.
This year’s World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 50 winners, 127 finalists, and 172 honorable mentions—with health, education, energy, and AI among the most popular categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners from a pool of more than 1,300 entries across climate, social justice, wellness, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility, and more. Several new categories were added this year, including beauty and fashion, health products, health services, materials, and science and technology. The 2024 awards feature entries from across the globe, including the Republic of Korea, Brazil, and Madagascar.
Fast Company’s Spring 2024 issue (on newsstands May 21, 2024) will unveil some of the world’s most creative minds and pioneering organizations that are seeking to disrupt the status quo. The solutions cover everything from renewable energy storage and waste in the fashion industry to a building made entirely from recycled concrete and a fridge that’s solar-powered and designed to run off the grid.
Aionics’ mission is as bold as it is broad: to accelerate global decarbonization by leveraging advances in AI-guided materials science. “There are two parallel revolutions happening right now,” said Chief Executive Officer Dr. Austin Sendek. “One is the exponential trend in high-performance computing power and efficiency; the other is the exponential trend in AI model performance. At Aionics, we combine these by first using high-performance computing resources to simulate quantum-level phenomena in battery materials, and then using those insights to train AI models to search through the entire corpus of known and hypothetical materials to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. With new advancements in generative AI including large language models, this process only becomes faster, easier, and more accurate.”
“I was struck this year by the global sweep of the honorees,” says Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “It’s endlessly inspiring to see how the world is coming together to devise inventive solutions to our most challenging problems. We need ideas from everywhere, and this year’s World Changing Ideas Awards are an extraordinary encapsulation of the innovation and creativity that is so abundant around the globe.”
ABOUT AIONICS, INC.: Aionics, Inc. was founded in 2020 with the mission of accelerating the development of materials for a zero carbon world. Aionics, Inc. co-innovates with leading companies in electric vehicles, aviation, grid-scale storage, and green manufacturing. It is backed by leading technology investors including UP Partners and Trousdale Ventures. To learn more visit aionics.io.
ABOUT THE WORLD CHANGING IDEAS AWARDS: World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and bold concepts that make the world better. Judges choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to work on solving the problems that affect us all.
ABOUT FAST COMPANY
Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at www.fastcompany.com.
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