Assistant Professor Hugh Herr of the Program in Media Arts and Sciences has won Popular Mechanics magazine's first annual Breakthrough Leadership Award for his work with prosthetics.
The award, announced Sept. 29 at the American Museum of Natural History, salutes an individual whose ongoing contributions provide inspiration to others and substantially change the rules of the game.
"What's most impressive about Herr is how passionately he drives himself to improve technology and the lives of those he helps," said James Meigs, editor in chief of the magazine. "He is constantly shifting his own goalposts further down the field and this is why Popular Mechanics has singled him out for this special recognition."
Herr was chosen from among the 10 winners of Breakthrough Awards for work in "helping to improve lives and expand possibilities in the realms of science, technology and exploration."
A complete report on the Breakthrough Awards will appear in the November 2005 issue of Popular Mechanics (on newsstands Oct. 11).
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 5, 2005 (download PDF).
