US engineer Frances Arnold becomes first woman to win Millennium Technology Prize

Technology Academy Finland (TAF) on 24 May 2016 declared American innovator Frances Arnold as winner of the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize.

The 1 million euro prize is awarded biennially and Arnold is the first female winner in its 12-year history.

Biochemical engineer Arnold received the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize in recognition of her discoveries that launched the field of directed evolution, which mimics natural evolution to create new and better proteins in the laboratory.

Who is Frances Arnold?

• Frances Hamilton Arnold is an internationally recognized American scientist and engineer.

• She pioneered methods of directed evolution to create useful biological systems, including enzymes, metabolic pathways, genetic regulatory circuits and organisms.

• She obtained her BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1979.

• She earned her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

• Her work has been recognized by many awards, including the 2011 Draper Prize and a 2013 National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

About Millennium Technology Prize

• The Millennium Technology Prize is one of the world's largest technology prizes.

• It is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the Finnish state in partnership.

• The prize is presented by the President of Finland.

• The aims of the prize are to promote technological research and Finland as a high-tech Nordic welfare state.

• The prize was inaugurated in 2004.

• Stuart Parkin was the winner of the 2014 Millennium Technology Prize.

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