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The 2016 Rolex Awards for Enterprise
News
The 2016 Rolex Awards for Enterprise
Since 1976, Rolex has honored five laureates who fall out of the typical mold and often have limited access to traditional funding. In 2010, Rolex added a series of awards for Young Laureates between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, to highlight and encourage the next generation of shakers and movers. “We are celebrating a very significant occasion in the history of the Awards and in the history of Rolex,” says Rebecca Irvin, head of philanthropy at Rolex.
“Forty years ago the company initiated the Rolex Awards to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Oyster in a manner that reflected the spirit of enterprise on which the company was founded,” she continues. “What better place to pay tribute to this enterprising spirit and the pioneering work of the 10 Rolex Awards winners than a city–Los Angeles–that embraces diversity and innovation?”
Among the 2,322 applicants from 144 different countries, the elite ten winners, chosen by an international jury of 12 experts, represent a unique snapshot of what diversity and ingenuity can deliver. From major life-improving smartphone apps tackling world hunger to research into the mysteries of Chile’s Patagonian fjords, each project, while different, has the same aim: to better our quality (and our understanding) of life. Here are just a few of the winners from the 2016 Awards and their particular projects tackling today’s problems:
The Rolex Awards are more than standard corporate philanthropic outreach–they show that true ingenuity can breed life-saving solutions when properly supported. These 10 winners are out to save the world, one project at a time, and Rolex will be there every step of the way.