VOA标准英语2009年-Lemelson Foundation Promotes Inventive

Innovation is helping¹ lift some of the world's poor out of poverty. With devices such as foot-powered pumps in Africa and solar panels in India, inventors and entrepreneurs are creating and distributing affordable² technology to improve people's lives. A charitable foundation set up by an American inventor is at the forefront of the effort.

Mike O'Sullivan | Los Angeles 16 December 2009

American inventor Jerome Lemelson

"We believe strongly that creativity is evenly distributed around the world, and that people Bill Gates [of Microsoft] and Steve Jobs [of Apple] and Albert Einstein are born every day in Africa and Asia and Latin America, but they often do not have access to the same kind of tools or resources that inventors and innovators in the industrialized world do."

Jerome Lemelson was one of America's most prolific³ inventors.  He was granted more than 600 patents.  His ideas for processes or devices are used in bar-code scanners, automated⁴ warehouse⁵ manufacturing systems, fax and automated teller⁶ machines, the crying baby doll, and Sony Walkman portable cassette player.

Lemelson died in 1997 at the age of 74, but the foundation that he set up promotes problem-solving through invention and innovation.

Julia Novy-Hildesle

One of its ongoing⁷ projects at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology honors a different inventor every year.  Julia Novy-Hildesley, executive director of the Lemelson Foundation, says honorees have made scientific breakthroughs.

"Some of these inventors have been designers of the human genome sequencer, incredible technologies around focusing sound in the same way have been able to focus light with lasers, health technologies like the stair-climbing wheelchair and a portable dialysis machine," she said. "So the idea was to recognize these great inventors, hold them up as role models for young people, and help young people see that aspiring⁸ to be an inventor is a great thing."

The Lemelson Foundation has established a center to study invention and innovation at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, and conducts national programs and competitions for college-age inventors.

From its base in Portland, Oregon, the organization also builds links between Americans and partners in the developing world who are using technology to solve social and environmental problems.  It has supported the work, for example, of physician Sathya Jeganathan in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.  Novy-Hildesley explains, the doctor faced a high rate of infant mortality in the clinic.

Baby incubator, India

"And so she designed with local craftsmen⁹ a very low-cost infant warmer," she said.  "It was a very simple wooden table with a fitted bulb that would adjust based on the baby's temperature, and had it constructed and implemented¹⁰ in her hospital.  And with that innovation, she has reduced infant mortality by 50 percent already."

The foundation has backed another Indian effort, a for-profit social enterprise called SELCO.  The company's co-founder, engineer Harish Hande moved to an Indian village so he could understand the villagers' needs and what they could afford, before he started the company.

SELCO Devanhali solar panel

"And so he then went back and worked on technology adaptation and designed very low-cost, small affordable solar panels with fitted bulbs, maybe one or two bulbs per household,  made sure that the bulbs could be moved from room to room, depending where people wanted the light," she said.

Hande worked with banks to secure the funding so householders could buy the devices.

In Africa, the foundation works with the non-profit organization KickStart, which develops inexpensive technology for small-scale farmers, and sets up local profit-making distribution systems.

SELCO lights

"Tools that will enable them to grow more crops, grow higher value crops, grow more crops per season or per year, and then be able to earn income from those crops," she said. "So KickStart went forward to design a range of agricultural technologies, the most significant of which has been the foot-powered treadle pump."

The simple mechanical pump draws water from a shallow well or nearby stream or river for use in irrigation. 

The foundation official says that poverty in the developing world requires creative solutions, harnessing the power of both the non-profit and for-profit sectors¹¹, and nurturing¹² innovators in developing countries, who may include future corporate¹³ founders¹⁴ and brilliant scientists. 

SELCO silk worm

"We believe strongly that creativity is evenly distributed around the world, and that people Bill Gates [of Microsoft] and Steve Jobs [of Apple] and Albert Einstein are born every day in Africa and Asia and Latin America, but they often do not have access to the same kind of tools or resources that inventors and innovators in the industrialized world do," she said.

She says the organization is working to spread these resources, and is also steering¹⁵ talented American women and minorities into science and engineering, to spur innovation in both the industrial and the developing worlds. 

 

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

4 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

5 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

6 teller   

n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员

参考例句：

• The bank started her as a teller.银行起用她当出纳员。
• The teller tried to remain aloof and calm.出纳员力图保持冷漠和镇静。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

9 craftsmen   

n. 技工

参考例句：

• rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
• The craftsmen have ensured faithful reproduction of the original painting. 工匠保证要复制一幅最接近原作的画。

10 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

11 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

13 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

14 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

15 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。