Last night Silicon Valley came out to celebrate the 2015 Tech Awards Gala, a yearly program presented by The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. The evening’s awards were presented to ten exceptional technologists, educators, scientists, and entrepreneurs from around the world, who are using technology to benefit humanity.
This year the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award was presented to John and Tashia Morgridge, former CEO of Cisco Systems and a special education teacher, respectively. The crowd also celebrated 2012 Laureate and recipient of the 2015 the Laureate Impact Award Embrace, makers of a low-cost infant warmer used by more than 150,000 premature babies worldwide.
2015 Teach Awards Laureates
This year’s gala marks the twelfth year Microsoft has sponsored the Tech Awards’ Education category. We believe that education is essential to empower young people around the world to imagine and realize their full potential. Our YouthSpark initiative focuses on this goal to equip 300 million young people with opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.
We’re proud to partner with The Tech Awards to celebrate the impact of last night’s incredible innovators. The 2015 Microsoft Education Award Laureates, BeeLine Reader and OPENPediatrics, are non-profits tackling the global issue of education through providing critical access to digital tools aiding in expanding literacy and access to medical education content. While the awards are global in scope, it’s inspiring to see Bay Area-based change makers acknowledged for such important work:
BeeLine Reader, a Silicon Valley-based literacy startup, improves reading fluency and efficiency with a 
digital tool that guides the eye for online reading. BeeLine Reader makes reading faster and easier by using acolor gradient that guides your eyes from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. The technology is helpful for readers of all levels from younf readers to graduate student and beyond. Readers with dyslexia, ADD, and vision difficulties reap some of the largest benefits from BeeLine Reader, with speed increases that can top 50%.
tools that allow for a global exchange of knowledge. Each piece of content undergoes a rigorous peer-review process, ensuring that the content is academically sound and based on best medical practices, allowing access to advanced training to everyone. Its open access, online education platform is sponsored by Boston Children’s Hospital in collaboration with the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies.
On behalf of everyone at Microsoft, we offer our congratulations to this year’s Education Laureates and wish them much success as they continue their noble work.
