Technology and Science
Short Takes: Euan Semple
As the former head of Knowledge Management for the BBC, Euan Semple pioneered the use of weblogs, wikis and on-line forums, enabling the staff to work more effectively.
Short Takes: Jason Fried
Fried is the founder and CEO of 37signals. Fried is a passionate leader in the field of simple, clear, and elegant web-based user interface design. He spearheaded the concept, design, and development of Basecamp, 37signal's web-based project management tool for designers, freelancers, and creative services firms. Fried is also the co-author of Defensive Design for the Web.
Short Takes: Walt Mossberg
Walt Mossberg is the author and creator of the weekly Personal Technology column in The Wall Street Journal, which has appeared every Thursday since 1991. He is also the co-creator and co-producer of the technology industry's most prestigious annual conference, D: All Things Digital, hosted by the Journal each spring.
Short Takes: Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Wladawsky-Berger is vice president of Technical Strategy and Innovation at IBM, responsible for identifying emerging technologies and marketplace developments that are critical to the future of the IT industry. He has led a number of companywide initiatives like Linux, Grid Computing and, in October 2002, IBM's On Demand Business initiative. He is visiting professor of Engineering Systems at MIT and adjunct professor in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group at the Imperial College Business School. Wladawsky-Berger was born in Cuba and came to the US at the age of 15, in 2001 he was named Hispanic Engineer of the Year.
Short Takes: Dean Kamen
Dean Kamen holds more than 150 U.S. and foreign patents related to medical devices, climate control systems, and helicopter design. He's an inventor whose rebellion against convention has consistently yielded smart solutions. As a high school student, he developed an audiovisual control system that was used in New York's Hayden Planetarium. While in college, his brother - then a medical student - told him how difficult it was to administer intravenous drugs to cancer patients and diabetics. Dean thought about it and invented the portable infusion pump, enabling these patients to receive their medication without being confined to a hospital bed.
Short Takes: Pamela O'Hara
Pamela's vision of providing customizable software for small businesses was the impetus for creating BatchBlue Software. Her work in recent years as a consultant to small businesses deepened her understanding of their technology needs, specifically data management tools and methodologies.
Pamela's Web career started in 1994, when she designed Web sites and managed online communications for U.S. Congressman Jim Langevin.
Short Takes: Steve Hardy
Steve Hardy is the founder of Creative Generalist, a popular weblog for curious divergent thinkers. He is formerly the Business Director of 2004's Magazine of the Year Maisonneuve (eclectic curiosity) and is currently a Creative Producer of wireless media at Airborne Entertainment.
John Abele at BIF-4
As a leader of the Grunion expedition, Abele recently rediscovered the WWII submarine his father disappeared on in 1942.
Robert Ballard at BIF-2
As a child Bob Ballard was spellbound by “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea”. Fiber optics and telepresence helped the oceanographer discover the Titanic and reach his dream of walking on the bottom of the ocean.
Gary Koelling and Steve Bendt at BIF-4
This duo shares their experience creating Best Buy’s successful Blue Shirt Nation employee engagement program.