The 5th annual awards honor the bold, new technologies, products, concepts, companies, policies, and designs that are pursuing innovation for the good of society and the planet
Bloom invented a novel ventilator splitting device, refurbished out-of-service ventilators from state stockpiles, provided non-combustion based power to field hospitals, brought new rapid testing to Bay Area organizations, and raised funds for a new mobile vaccine lab during the COVID-19 pandemic
New York and San Jose, May 4, 2021 — The winners of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, honoring the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovation when it comes to solving health and climate crises, social injustice, or economic inequality.
Bloom Energy has been recognized in Fast Company’s “Pandemic Response” category for developing ventilators 2.0 — a reliable, user-friendly ventilator solution that provides ventilation support to four people simultaneously in emergency situations. The device delivers the same percentage of oxygen to all four patients and enables pressure to be adjusted individually among patients to ensure customized support and monitoring of each patient’s ventilation parameters.
Now in its fifth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 33 winners, more than 400 finalists, and more than 800 honorable mentions—with Health and Wellness, AI & Data among the most popular categories. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, and more. Plus, several new categories were added, including Pandemic Response, Urban Design, and Architecture. The 2021 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam.
“As a mission-driven company, our employees have an incredibly noble common trait: when they see a problem, they roll up their sleeves and find a solution,” said Venkat Venkataraman, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Bloom Energy. “Our ethos as an organization has always been to step up and find concrete ways to improve the world we live in. I’m immensely proud of the dedication from our enterprising employees, our engineers, as well as our academic collaborators at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Our employees have tirelessly toiled to find innovative solutions and have continuously demonstrated their community spirit – all while running our essential business safely and without interruption.”
Showcasing some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling exigent global challenges, Fast Company’s Summer 2021 issue (on newsstands May 10) highlights, among others, a lifesaving bassinet; the world’s largest carbon sink, thanks to carbon-eating concrete; 3D-printed schools; an at-home COVID-19 testing kit; a mobile voting app; and the world’s cleanest milk.
“There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it’s important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.”
During the pandemic, in addition to the new ventilator solution invented by Bloom Energy, the company also:
- Refurbished and returned to service more than 1,300 out-of-service ventilators across the country
- Rapidly deployed and powered both existing health care facilities and hospitals as well as makeshift, pop-up locations for treating COVID afflicted patients, avoiding combustion-based power generation sources, such as diesel generators, that severely affect local air quality — a particular concern for COVID-19 patients with respiratory symptoms
- Deployed a new PCR testing unit in partnership with T3 Shield to bring Bay Area businesses and schools simple, rapid and inexpensive COVID-19 testing
- Raised $199,000 with Bay Area organizations to benefit the Valley Medical Center Foundation for the purchase of a new mobile vaccination unit
- Created an oxygenator splitting kit to help developing countries with limited oxygenator equipment supply treat more patients
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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 brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors 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 start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
About Bloom Energy
Bloom Energy’s mission is to make clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world. Bloom Energy’s product, the Bloom Energy Server, delivers highly reliable and resilient, always-on electric power that is clean, cost-effective, and ideal for microgrid applications. Bloom Energy’s customers include many Fortune 100 companies and leaders in manufacturing, data centers, healthcare, retail, higher education, utilities, and other industries. For more information, visit www.bloomenergy.com.
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