<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hello, Everyone!<div><br></div><div>For the last few years, Melinda Wenner of Popular Science has contacted the News Office to help find nominees for the magazine's Brilliant Ten awards.</div><div><br></div><div>I thought that you could help me compile a list of MIT nominees for 2009. To that end, please take a peek at the criteria (below) for the award, and let me know who comes to mind (and why). I'll then compile a final list and get it off to Melinda.</div><div><br></div><div>Last year TWO MIT people were named to the list, and two others had MIT connections. (See <a href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/popsci-1014.html)">http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/popsci-1014.html)</a></div><div><br></div><div>Thank you in advance for the help,</div><div><br></div><div>Elizabeth</div><div><br></div><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">================================</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">Elizabeth A. Thomson</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">Senior Media Relations Officer, Research News</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">News Office, Room 11-400</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">77 Massachusetts Ave.</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">Cambridge, MA 02139-4307</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">617-258-5402 (ph); 617-258-8762 (fax)</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "><<a href="mailto:thomson@mit.edu">thomson@mit.edu</a>></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "><br></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "><<a href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www">http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www</a>></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; ">================================</span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></span></font></div></span></div><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>From: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica">Melinda Wenner <<a href="mailto:brilliant.ten@gmail.com">brilliant.ten@gmail.com</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Date: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica">April 24, 2009 1:13:22 AM EDT</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>To: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica"><a href="mailto:thomson@mit.edu">thomson@mit.edu</a>, <a href="mailto:jfhirsch@mit.edu">jfhirsch@mit.edu</a></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Subject: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica"><b>Popular Science Brilliant Ten awards</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div> </div>Dear Elizabeth and Jen,<br><br>I hope you're well. I'm writing on behalf of Popular Science magazine, where we are researching our annual Brilliant Ten awards. Each year, the magazine picks young ten US-based scientists, doctors or engineers that we feel are the most innovative, incisive, creative researchers in their fields, and we profile them in a special issue.<br><br>We can't find them without your help. I'm hoping that you will aid us by sharing this e-mail with all relevant press officers and department heads at your institution. Then, we ask that you or one of your colleagues compile a short list of <b>no more than five candidates </b>and that you<b> nominate them by completing the attached form (one form per candidate) by May 5th.</b><br> <br>Here are our required criteria for the award:<br><ul><li>The nominee must be under 45 (preference given to younger candidates)<br></li></ul><ul><li>The nominee must be relatively unknown, except to those in his or her field (e.g. no MacArthur award winners or people who've been profiled in other national magazines)</li></ul><ul><li>The nominee must must have made a significant discovery or major contribution to his or her field in the past two years.</li></ul>Here are last year's winners:<br><a href="http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/brilliant-10-class-2008" target="_blank">http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/brilliant-10-class-2008</a><br> <br>Suggestion: we always seem to be short on the following types of candidates, so if you can some that fit these criteria, they will have an immediate advantage:<br> -- candidates under 30<br>-- mathematicians, animal and insect biologists, bioengineers and chemists<br>-- scientists who work for industry or have created start-up businesses<br><br>Also, please keep your submissions non-technical -- we will be sifting through hundreds, and we're more likely to cut candidates whose research descriptions we can't easily understand!<br> <br>Please let me know if you have any questions.<br><br>Thank you!!!<br><br>Warm regards,<br>Melinda<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Melinda Wenner<br>Working on behalf of Popular Science Magazine<br><a href="http://www.melindawenner.com">http://www.melindawenner.com</a><br> <br><br> </blockquote></div></div></body></html>