The award winners will be announced in the Spring of 2014.

PASADENA, CA – AUGUST 21, 2013 – The Resnick Sustainability Institute at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has announced that it has established an award that will honor cutting-edge work that addresses some of the hardest problems in energy and sustainability. The award winners will be announced in the Spring of 2014.

The Resnick Sustainability Institute's "RESONATE" Awards will focus on innovative, paradigm-shifting work from individuals at an early stage in their careers, whose ideas are worthy of significant, widespread recognition. This work can be from many fields including science, technology, economics, public policy, or others. The intent of the awards is to draw attention to the innovators making significant strides in some of the grand challenges facing humanity, within the context of achieving global sustainability. These include meeting the world's energy needs sustainably, providing water and food for a growing world population, cleaning the environment, improving people's access to the natural resources they need to live a productive life, and others.

"The big issues in sustainability demand a perspective that is creative, global, and untethered by prior conventional wisdom," said Dr. Harry Atwater, Director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute, and Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science Caltech. "These awards have been created to encourage and honor people who are rethinking solutions to conquer these challenges."

The award's judging panel will be comprised of a team of individuals appointed by Resnick Sustainability Institute leadership. Judges are selected based on their track records of outstanding achievement in academia, industry, government, journalism, and society.

At last month's FORTUNE Brainstorm Tech Conference, it was also announced that FORTUNE and the Resnick Sustainability Institute are partnering to add a scientific perspective to the FORTUNE Brainstorm Green Conference in May 2014. Honorees of the first RESONATE Awards will be presented at this conference as well. (See earlier press release http://resnick.caltech.edu/pr_partnership.php).

About The Resnick Sustainability Institute

The Resnick Institute is Caltech's studio focused on the breakthroughs that will change the balance of the world's sustainability. It marries bold creativity and deep scientific knowledge by encouraging original thinking and orthogonal ideas. The Resnick Institute works with some of the world's top and emerging scientists — at the California Institute of Technology and beyond. Current projects at the Resnick Institute include research into energy generation, such as advanced photovoltaics, photoelectrochemical solar fuels, cellulosic biofuels, and wind energy system design; energy conversion work on batteries and fuel cells; and energy efficiency and management such as fuel efficient vehicles, green chemical synthesis, thermoelectric materials, and advanced research on electrical grid control and distribution.

For more information, visit http://resnick.caltech.edu.