SANTA MONICA, CA--(Marketwire - April 23, 2008) - ZS Genetics, Inc. is the seventh team to be accepted into the ten million dollar Archon X PRIZE for Genomics competition. Led by William Glover, an engineer and inventor, ZS Genetics was founded in 2003. More....

March 24, 2008, New York, NY—Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that New York City will kick off the $10 million cross-country Progressive Automotive X PRIZE race in September 2009. The announcement came just weeks before the one year anniversary of PlaNYC, the City's plan to create a greener, greater New York.

"The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is an excellent example of how the private sector can spur solutions to our most complex challenges," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Here in New York City, we are also stepping up to the plate on energy conservation, by transforming our taxi fleet into hybrids and cutting the City's energy use by 30% over the next ten years. It's all part of PlaNYC, our plan to create a greener, greater New York. Development of a super-efficient car would be a major step forward in the fight against global warming - and it would help us reach our goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in New York City by 30% by 2030. To maximize national and international awareness of the X PRIZE, I am pleased to announce that New York will be the starting point for the race next year."

Beginning in September 2009, the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE will kick off a cross-country stage race in major markets throughout the U.S. in which competing vehicles will be tested and showcased in real world conditions. Following New York City’s announcement, the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE will seek proposals from other U.S. cities to serve as Host Cities for the remaining stages of the national competition. Cities are invited to host stages, or legs of varying distances, of the Qualifying and Final Races of the competition scheduled to conclude in 2010.

Thursday’s press conference to unveil the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE was hosted by Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation and Glenn Renwick, CEO of Progressive, and featured Mayor Bloomberg and members of four teams hoping to compete.

“The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is a call to action to promote and inspire innovation,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. “The environmentally friendly cars created as a result of this competition will affect everyone who drives in ways we can’t even imagine today. We hope that other U.S. cities will follow Mayor Bloomberg’s lead to bring this competition through their city.”

To date, more than 60 teams representing ten countries and 22 U.S. states have signed a Letter of Intent to compete for a share of the prize purse and global publicity.

About the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Competition:
The goal of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles that offer more consumer choices. Ten million dollars in prizes will be awarded to the teams that win a stage race for clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 MPGe.

The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE will place a major focus on affordability, safety, and the environment. It is about developing real, production-capable cars that consumers want to buy, not science projects or concept cars. This progress is needed because today’s oil consumption is unsustainable and because automotive emissions significantly contribute to global warming and climate change.

For more information about the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE, please visit www.progressiveautoxprize.org or email us.

About the X PRIZE Foundation:
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured world headlines when Burt Rutan, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private vehicle to space to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation is creating prizes in five areas: Exploration (Space and Underwater), Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email us.

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NEW YORK (March 20, 2008) – Today at the New York International Auto Show, the X PRIZE Foundation and Progressive (NYSE:PGR) jointly announced the company’s Title Sponsorship of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition and its funding of the $10 million prize purse.

The newly renamed Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is an international competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles. The independent and technology-neutral competition is open to teams from around the world that can design, build and bring to market 100 MPGe (miles per gallon energy equivalent) vehicles that people want to buy, and that meet market needs for price, size, capability, safety and performance.

To date, more than 60 teams from nine countries have signed a Letter of Intent to compete for a share of the prize purse and global publicity.

“The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is a call to action to promote and inspire innovation,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. “The environmentally friendly cars created as a result of this competition will affect everyone who drives in ways we can’t even imagine today. Let the race begin!”

“We’ve been working hard to make a difference in car insurance for 70 years,” said Progressive’s CEO, Glenn Renwick. “Now we have a chance to make a difference by supporting the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE. This competition will result in more choices of more fuel-efficient vehicles for drivers and will be a catalyst for moving this technology forward, faster.”

“This competition represents what we’re all about in name and spirit—new ideas, competition and always working to do better,” added Renwick. “Being a part of this gives us a chance to make a real difference.”

At today’s New York International Auto Show, four teams and their vehicles joined representatives of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was also on hand in support of the initiative.

“The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is an excellent example of how the private sector can spur solutions to our most complex challenges,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Here in New York City, we are also stepping up to the plate on energy conservation, by transforming our taxi fleet into hybrids and cutting the City’s energy use by 30% over the next ten years. It’s all part of PlaNYC, our plan to create a greener, greater New York.”

The Mayor added, “Development of a super-efficient car would be a major step forward in the fight against global warming – and it would help us reach our goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in New York City by 30% by 2030. To maximize national and international awareness of the X PRIZE, I am pleased to announce that New York will be the starting point for the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE race next year.”

The X PRIZE Foundation, best known for the successful $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private suborbital spaceflight, is an educational nonprofit whose mission is to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity by holding $10 million dollar (or larger) competitions to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.

Several teams in the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE’s Letter of Intent program will be on hand to speak with the media throughout the show. A complete list of teams that have already signed a Letter of Intent to compete is included below.

The window for applications will be open until mid 2008, when a thorough qualification process will assess safety, cost, features and business plans to ensure that only production-capable, consumer-friendly cars compete. Those that qualify will race their vehicles in rigorous cross-country stage races in 2009 and 2010 that combine speed, distance, urban driving and overall performance. The winners will be the vehicles that exceed 100 MPGe, meet strict emissions standards and finish in the fastest time. Host cities involved in the competition route are to be announced shortly.

About the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Competition:
The goal of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles that offer more consumer choices. Ten million dollars in prizes will be awarded to the teams that win a stage race for clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 MPGe.

The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE will place a major focus on affordability, safety, and the environment. It is about developing real, production-capable cars that consumers want to buy, not science projects or concept cars. This progress is needed because today’s oil consumption is unsustainable and because automotive emissions significantly contribute to global warming and climate change.

About the Competition:
Draft Guidelines that specify vehicle requirements and other aspects of the competition are available at http://auto.xprize.org/auto/automotive-x-prize/draft-guidelines. A summary of the current guidelines follows:
The competition will comprise two vehicle classes: Mainstream and Alternative. Mainstream vehicles will be required to carry four or more passengers, have four or more wheels, and allow for a 200-mile range. Alternative-class vehicles will be required to carry two or more passengers, have no constraints on the number of wheels, and allow for a 100-mile range. All vehicles will need to meet requirements for performance and features to make the cars attractive to consumers. The competition will culminate with two dramatic, long-distance stage races in 2009-2010 – a Qualifying Race and the Grand Prize Final Race. Race courses will reflect typical consumer driving patterns during numerous stages, in varied terrain, communities, and weather conditions. To win, vehicles must complete both races with the lowest overall time averaged over all scoring stages while still meeting the requirements for 100 MPGe fuel economy and low emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. The $10 million prize purse will be split 3:1 between the winners of the Mainstream and Alternative classes. Final guidelines will be published shortly.

Support for the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE:
Support and encouragement has been received from government agencies that will help the privately funded organization conduct the competition and test vehicle compliance, including the U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory; the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway, Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ); and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

In addition, non-governmental organizations supporting the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE include the National Resources Defense Council, The Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation, Union of Concerned Scientists, the Apollo Alliance, the Consumer Federation of America, Global Green USA and CALSTART, among others.

Sponsors and Donors of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE:
• The prize’s Title Sponsor is Progressive Insurance
• The U.S. Department of Energy is the Sponsor of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE Education Program, and Adobe® and Idealab® are Supporting Sponsors
• Auto Research Center (ARC) is the Official Performance Simulation Provider
• Ray Sidney of Big George Ventures is a prize benefactor, and the following people are patron donors: Gil & Elyssa Elbaz, Jack Hidary, Jeffery Shames, and Nadine Weil

Teams in the Letter of Intent Program:
As of March 20, the following teams have signed a Letter of Intent to compete:

° AirShip Technologies Group (Lake Oswego, OR, USA) ° Alpha-Core/Poulsen Hybrid (Bridgeport, CT, USA) ° Aptera Motors (Carlsbad, CA, USA) ° Arkas Automotive (Istanbul, Turkey) ° Avion Car Company (Bellingham, WA, USA) ° Brilliant Automotive, (Fairfield, IA, USA) ° Belloso Motor Company (Salisbury, MD, USA) ° Brilliant Automotive (Southfield, IA, USA) ° Commuter Cars Corp (Spokane, WA, USA) ° Cornell University (Ithaca, NY, USA) ° DEHyds (Tenino, WA, USA) ° Delta Motorsport (Northamptonshire, UK) ° Desert Fuel (Phoenix, AZ, USA) ° Disruptech (Newhall, CA, USA) ° Team Dragonfly (Northampton, UK) ° Electric Truck Inc (Greenwich, CT, USA) ° Energy Highway (Pleasanton, CA, USA) ° Esterer Engineering Ltd. (Vancouver, BC, Canada) ° FuelVapor Technologies BC, (Maple Ridge, BC, Canada) ° Global-E (Mandeville, LA, USA) ° Goodwin-Young “Linc Volt” (Wichita, KS, USA) ° Greenhouse 2000 (Orlando, FL, USA) ° Gunn Team (San Jose, CA, USA) ° HerfDuo (Berlin, Germany) ° Hybrid Technologies (Mooresville, NC, USA) ° HyKinesys (Rolling Hills Estate, CA, USA) ° ICEwave (Terre Haute, IN, USA) ° Illuminati (Virden, IL, USA) ° Kinetic Vehicles (Creswell, OR, USA) ° Kuttner Doran Innovations (Charlottesville, VA, USA) ° laeN’O (Marshall, NC, USA) ° Loremo (Munich, Germany) ° Lydell Industries (Frewsburg, NY, USA) ° Maine Automotive X (Camden, ME, USA) ° Mann Research & Development, (Benton, KY, USA)

° laeN’O (Marshall, NC, USA) ° Loremo (Munich, Germany) ° Lydell Industries (Frewsburg, NY, USA) ° Maine Automotive X (Camden, ME, USA) ° Mann Research & Development, (Benton, KY, USA) ° MDI and Zero Pollution Motors,, (Nice, France and New Paltz, NY, USA) ° Michigan Vision (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) ° Miles Electric Vehicles (Santa Monica, CA, USA) ° Motive Industries, Inc. (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) ° MotoTron Disrupt (Oshkosh, WI, USA) ° Northwest Energy Research Association (Arlington, WA, USA) ° Phoenix Motorcars (Ontario, CA, USA) ° Physics Lab of Lake Havasu (Lake Havasu, AZ, USA) ° Porteon Electric Vehicles, Inc. (Portland, OR, USA) ° Prometheus Systems (Flagstaff, AZ, USA) ° Psycho-Active (Moore, SC, USA) ° RaceAbout Association (Helsinki Finland) ° Red Light Racing (RLR) (Callaway, MD, USA) ° Revolución Motors (Lawrence, KS, USA) ° Society for Sustainable Mobility (Beverly Hills, CA, USA) ° Spirit One (Alberta, CA, USA) ° T3 Motion (Costa Mesa, CA, USA) ° Team TWIKE IV (Germany) ° Tesla Motors (San Carlos, CA, USA) ° Tilting Vehicle Australia (Kilburn, Australia) ° TriTrack (Georgetown, TX, USA) ° USA Electric Cars, LLC (Cortland, NY, USA) ° Valentin Technologies (Elm Grove, WI, USA) ° Velozzi (Beverly Hills, CA, USA) ° Venture Vehicles (Beverly Hills, CA, USA) ° Visionary Vehicles (New York, NY, USA) ° West Philly Hybrid X Team (Philadelphia, PA, USA) ° Western Washington University/Vikings (Bellingham, WA, USA) ° X Tracer Team Switzerland (Winterthur, Switzerland) ° ZAP (Santa Rosa, CA, USA)

About the X PRIZE Foundation:
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured world headlines when Burt Rutan, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private vehicle to space to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation is creating prizes in five areas: Exploration (Space and Underwater), Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email us.

For more information about the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE, please visit www.progressiveautoxprize.org or email email us.

About Progressive:
Progressive, founded in 1937, is a leading insurer of cars, motorcycles, recreation vehicles, boats, personal watercraft and commercial vehicles.

The company offers competitive rates and products that meet drivers’ needs throughout their lifetimes as well as 24/7 online and in-person customer and claims service.

Progressive’s products and services are available locally through more than 30,000 independent insurance agencies in the U.S., online at progressive.com and by phone at 1-800-PROGRESSIVE (1-800-776-4737).

 

SANTA MONICA, CA, March 20, 2008 – The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, a multi-million dollar competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, safe and super fuel-efficient vehicles, today announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy to inspire youth and the general public about the alternative vehicle and fuel options of the near future. The two organizations plan to create a national education program that will encourage young people to pursue careers in energy-efficient sciences and technology. The U.S. Department of Energy plans to make up to a $3.5 million USD grant to fund this program, subject to appropriation from Congress.

WASHINGTON, DC March 14, 2008—Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), along with Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Pete Domenici (R, NM) today led the passage of a Senate resolution congratulating the X PRIZE Foundation’s leadership in inspiring a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles. The Senate resolution follows an earlier House resolution introduced by Congressman Daniel E. Lungren (R-CA) which passed February 6th, 2008. (Read the full text of S. Res. 486 here)

The Automotive X PRIZE is a private, independent, technology-neutral competition being developed by the X PRIZE Foundation. The prize will award a multimillion dollar purse to teams that can design, build, and demonstrate production-capable vehicles that achieve 100 MPG or its energy equivalent (MPGe).

As noted by Senator Bingaman, “This prize promises to help harness the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of America’s best minds to one of our greatest problems: our over-reliance on foreign oil. It should be an exciting competition and it is certainly a worthy goal. I wish them the best of luck and look forward to seeing the innovations they inspire.”

“The dual passage of both the House and Senate resolutions demonstrates that our elected officials understand the real issues consumers are facing today and that real solutions will require the American spirit of free enterprise,” noted Don Foley, Executive Director of the Automotive X PRIZE. “This high-profile competition is igniting ideas and concepts across the globe to help solve the challenge of energy security and climate change.”

The Automotive X PRIZE is open to all – automakers large and small as well as innovators – who believe that the goal of a 100 MPGe vehicle is not only possible but essential if we are to break our addiction to oil.

“United States national security and economic prosperity demand that we move toward a sustainable energy future,” added Senator Lugar. “The global trend of foreign governments asserting greater control over oil reserves allows unfriendly regimes to use their energy exports as leverage against the United States and our allies. Establishment of the Automotive X Prize demonstrates remarkable vision and leadership. I am particularly encouraged that development of the prize benefits from insights of a diverse group of government, non-government, university and industry representatives."

With only a few days until the Foundation’s public announcement of the multimillion dollar prize purse and title sponsor at the New York Auto Show on March 20, the Automotive X PRIZE will signal the beginning of this competition as well as the hope that the country’s dependence on foreign oil and its reliance on a depleting fuel source will one day come to an end.

“We thank Senators Lugar and Bingaman for their leadership and commitment to the goals that this competition represents to the United States as well as the entrepreneurial American spirit that it will inspire for the benefit of mankind,” added Foley.

Today’s action by the Senate adds to the significant support that the Automotive X PRIZE has garnered from a diverse group of politicians and government agencies, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator George Voinovich (R-OH), San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Houston Mayor Bill White, along with support from The U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Andy Karsner, The Department of Transportation (NHTSA and Federal Highway Administration) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, among others.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured world headlines when Burt Rutan, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private vehicle to space to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation is creating prizes in five areas: Exploration (Space and Underwater), Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email us.

 

 

Ten Teams Registered to Compete for $30 Million Google Lunar X PRIZE

February 21, 2008, Mountain View, CA – The X PRIZE Foundation and Google, Inc. today announced the first ten teams to register for the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a remarkable $30 million in prizes. This international group of teams will compete to land a privately funded robotic craft on the Moon that is capable of roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.

Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, announced the teams at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California. “I’m very pleased to welcome our first 10 fully registered teams to the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Only 6 months after the announcement of this competition, the response has been incredible – we’ve received over 560 expressions of interest from more than 53 nations. By comparison, at the 6 month point of the Ansari X PRIZE we had only 2 teams registered. I think we’re going to see an exciting and very competitive race to the Moon, highlighted by some very creative designs unlike anything we’ve seen come out of the government space programs. Many of these teams represent some of the most creative and entrepreneurial minds in space exploration today. I wish them all the very best of luck. I can’t wait to join with Google in paying the winner,” said Diamandis.

"We are excited that ten teams from around the world have taken up the challenge of the Google Lunar X PRIZE," said Megan Smith, Google's Vice President for New Business Development. "We look forward to the exciting achievements and scientific advancements that will result from the efforts of these teams as they participate in the next great space race."

The ten teams are:

Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA): Based in Valcea, Romania and led by Dumitru Popescu, ARCA was also a contender in the Ansari X PRIZE. Two of ARCA’s most innovative projects to date have been the Demonstrator 2B rocket and Stabilo, a two-stage manned suborbital air-launched vehicle. The craft they plan to enter in the Google Lunar X PRIZE will be called the “European Lunar Explorer.”

Astrobotic: Team Astrobotic, led by Dr. William “Red” Whittaker, was formed to coordinate the efforts of Carnegie Mellon University, Raytheon Company and additional institutions. One of Carnegie Mellon’s specialties is autonomous navigation through stereo vision and other technologies. This enables Carnegie Mellon’s robots to automatically avoid obstacles and select their own route across unmapped terrain. Astrobotic will compete for the prize using their “Artemis Lander” and “Red Rover.”

Chandah: Chandah, meaning “Moon” in Sanskrit, was founded by Adil Jafry, an energy industry entrepreneur. He is now chairman and CEO of Tara, the largest independent retail electricity provider in Texas. Jafry’s goal is to catalyze commercialization of space, and bring advances in space travel, tourism, sciences, and technology to the general public at large. Team Chandah’s spacecraft will be named “Shehrezade.”

FREDNET: Headed by Fred J. Bourgeois III, this multi-national team is comprised of systems, software, and hardware developers who serve as the leaders and overall coordinators of an international group of Open Source developers, engineers, and scientists. Their goal is to bring the same successful approach used in developing major software systems (such as the Internet, and Linux) to bear on the problems associated with Space Exploration and Research.

LunaTrex: Led by Pete Bitar, LunaTrex is comprised of several individuals, companies, and universities from all over the United States, some of whom were also competitors for the Ansari X PRIZE. Each team member brings their own history to the mix: rocket science, high-altitude near-space R&D, defense directed-energy technology, aviation design and development, robotics, trajectories, and non-conventional propulsion expertise. The name of their competing craft will be “Tumbleweed.”

Micro-Space: Helmed by Richard Speck and based in Colorado, Micro-Space, Inc. has a 31-year history of producing world class, high tech products. Since focusing on the development of spaceflight systems, they have flown 17 innovative, bipropellant liquid fuel rockets, three near-hover rockets with vectored thrust guidance, scores of flights with telemetry and radio tracking, and several innovative life support systems. Micro-Space has been a competitor in the Ansari X PRIZE as well as the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Their “Human Lunar Lander” will compete for Google Lunar X PRIZE.

Odyssey Moon: The first team to register for the competition, Odyssey Moon is a private commercial lunar enterprise headquartered in the Isle of Man and founded by Dr. Robert Richards. Odyssey Moon’s business plans are actively in development for a series of missions to the Moon during the International Lunar Decade in support of science, exploration and commerce. Their Google Lunar X PRIZE craft is titled “MoonOne (M-1).”

Quantum3: A U.S.-based team, Quantum3 is led by Paul Carliner, a senior executive in the aerospace industry. They propose to field a small spacecraft launched from an East Coast range using launch-coast-burn trajectory for a propulsive soft landing on the surface of the Moon at the Sea of Tranquility. Quantum3 is taking a partnership approach to the mission, utilizing the unique capabilities of the private sector and academic communities. Their craft will be called “Moondancer.”

Southern California Selene Group: According to team leader Harold Rosen, the approach taken by the Santa Monica Selene Group can be succinctly summarized as “an elegantly simple design that is relatively inexpensive to implement.” The architecture for their “Spirit of Southern California” spacecraft will combine the control and communication systems used in some of the earliest communications satellites with the latest in electronic and sensor technology.

Team Italia: Based in Italy and led by Prof. Amalia Ercoli-Finzi, Team Italia is a collaboration between several universities. The team is currently running a prototype of its system at Politecnico di Milano. The architecture of the robotic system is under study: a single big rover or a colony of many robots, light and mobile, with many legs and wheels, able to be compacted in the lander and distributed quickly on the Moon's surface with cameras and sensory support.

The X PRIZE Foundation has also announced that Space Florida will be a new preferred partner and the first preferred launch site for the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. Each preferred partner offers additional prizes or strategic services at a discounted rate to all competition teams. As the first preferred launch site, Space Florida will award an additional prize of $2 million to the Grand Prize winner of the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, provided the winner launched the winning flight from the State of Florida and upon confirmation that the winner has complied with all competition rules. Space Florida was created by the Florida Legislature to sustain Florida's position as the global leader in space exploration and commerce, and is the principal organization charged with promoting and developing Florida's aerospace industry.

ABOUT THE GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE
The $30 million prize purse is segmented into a $20 million Grand Prize, a $5 million Second Prize and $5 million in bonus prizes. To win the Grand Prize, a team must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon, rove on the lunar surface for a minimum of 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to the Earth. The Grand Prize is $20 million until December 31st 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15 million until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation. For more information about the Google Lunar X PRIZE, please visit www.googlelunarxprize.org.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. On October 4, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private vehicle to space twice in two weeks to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The X PRIZE Foundation has since launched the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE and the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, and will continue to offer new prizes for breakthroughs in the areas of life improvement, exploration, equity of opportunity and sustainability. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email email us.

ABOUT GOOGLE, INC.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.

 

Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, and Clinician/Scientist to Grow Prizes in the Area of Life Sciences

SANTA MONICA, Calif., February 13, 2008 –The X PRIZE Foundation, an educational nonprofit prize institute created to foster radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity, today announced the appointment of Bard J. Geesaman, M.D. Ph.D. as Executive Director, Life Sciences. Beyond his academic and medical qualifications, he is the founder of two healthcare companies and worked as a venture capitalist. He has extensive experience in business, clinical medicine, basic research, and finance.

As Executive Director, Geesaman will be responsible for developing, funding and running new prizes in the area of Life Sciences, which will include any cancer, healthcare and genomics prizes. The Foundation has a goal of launching 10-15 new prizes worth $300 million over the next seven years, several of which will be in the Life Sciences.

“Bard’s medical background and experience in the business sector position him perfectly to handle the technical, organizational and financial challenges of running our Life Sciences vertical,” said Tom Vander Ark, President of the X PRIZE Foundation. “Under Bard’s leadership, we hope to make Life Sciences one of the cornerstones of our prize portfolio.”

ABOUT BARD GEESAMAN
Dr. Geesaman joined the X PRIZE Foundation from MPM Capital, where he worked as a Venture Partner, assessing new investment opportunities and assisting in business development for existing portfolio companies. At MPM he founded JapanBridge, an oncology pharmaceutical company in Tokyo which focuses on expediting drug development in Asia. Prior to MPM, he served as the Vice President, Medical Development for Elixir Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw clinical strategy for drug development and the human genetics program, as well being involved in the company’s business development team. Coincident with these activities, Dr. Geesaman was a General Partner at F2 Ventures, a UK-based venture capital fund, and he continues to serve on the board of directors for these investments. His first experience in business immediately followed his medical training; Dr. Geesaman founded and was Chief Technical Officer of Catalyst Medical Solutions, where he designed and coded an enterprise application to enhance hospital revenue and improve medical documentation and compliance.

Dr. Geesaman’s academic background ranges from the fields of computer engineering to computational biology to clinical medicine, and he has written for a number of publications in these fields. Dr. Geesaman became board certified in Internal Medicine in 2000, after completing a Clinical Fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has a Ph.D. in Systems and Computational Neurobiology from MIT, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a B.S. from U.C. Berkeley in Systems Neurobiology.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. On October 4, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private vehicle to space twice in two weeks to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The X PRIZE Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics and the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and will continue to offer new prizes for breakthroughs in the areas of life improvement, exploration, equity of opportunity and sustainability. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email us.

 

WASHINGTON, February 6, 2008—Congressman Daniel E. Lungren (R-CA) today led the passage of a House resolution congratulating the X PRIZE Foundation’s leadership in inspiring a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles.

New traveling exhibit unveiled with Spirit of Innovation trophy at NASA Headquarters

January 18, 2008, Washington, D.C. – The winners of a national space-oriented high school competition, the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award, were recognized today in a ceremony at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. To highlight the efforts of the students, the X PRIZE Foundation and NASA unveiled a new exhibit which will travel around the country called Spirit of Innovation. In addition, the X PRIZE Foundation announced that the Conrad Award Scroll, inscribed with the names of the winning team, will be carried to the International Space Station in the fall of 2008 by Richard Garriott.

NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale and NASA Innovative Partnerships Program Director Doug Comstock were on hand to honor the winning teams of young people.  The Innovative Partnerships Program, a mission support office at NASA Headquarters that promotes technology partnerships with industry and academia, provided $10,000 in support of the Award, including grant money to the top three teams’ schools. Comstock said, “These students represent the future of space exploration and NASA is proud to recognize and encourage their innovative ideas. We congratulate all the winners of the Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award.”

First-place team “Michael and Talia” from Los Angeles helped unveil the traveling exhibit that features their winning entry. The exhibit also showcases the 2007 competition, which was held at the X PRIZE Cup at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Michael Hakimi and Talia Nour-Omid developed an idea for a device that would effectively monitor all of a human being’s vital signs while in space. The winning team received a $5,000 grant for their school and a trophy presented by Nancy Conrad, wife of the late Apollo astronaut Pete Conrad and creator of the prize, and Erik Lindbergh, X PRIZE Foundation Trustee, great-grandson of Charles Lindbergh and designer and sculptor of the First Prize trophy.

Bretton Alexander, X PRIZE Foundation Executive Director of Space Prizes, and Nancy Conrad announced that the Conrad Award Scroll that lists the names of the winning team members will be carried to space by Richard Garriott on his Fall 2008 trip to the International Space Station. Said Conrad, “Pete’s goal was to open space to all travelers. Through the Spirit of Innovation Award, we are bringing space to people before we can bring people to space. We are passing the torch to the next generation of space travelers. Nothing shows that better than Richard carrying the scroll to the Space Station. Richard’s father Owen was an astronaut on Skylab, and now Richard is going up. And we are all connected, because it was Pete’s mission that rescued Skylab and made it possible for Owen to fly.”

Students from the other top two teams also attended the event. Samantha Hopkins represented Team Gad Astro from Northbrook, IL, who won the second place award with their concept of a self-healing material that would rapidly fix any punctures, maintaining safety in space. Christo Magri represented Team Penguin Education from Friendswood, TX, who won third place with their idea for a company that works with private and public schools to provide a high level of space education.

The Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award is a competition for teams of high school students to create a concept to benefit the personal spaceflight industry. Teams submitted graphical representations, technical documents and business plans of concepts. The 10 finalist teams traveled to Alamogordo, New Mexico, to present their business plans to a panel of judges and to the public, who voted on their favorite team.

ABOUT CHARLES “PETE” CONRAD
Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. was the third man to walk on the moon and served on Gemini 5 and 11, Apollo 12, and Skylab 2 missions. Conrad was the recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor awarded for his rescue of Skylab. He was posthumously awarded the Ambassador of Exploration Award by NASA in 2006.

ABOUT THE NASA INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM
The Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) mission is to provide leveraged technology for NASA's Mission Directorates, Programs, and Projects through investments and technology partnerships with industry, academia, government agencies, and national laboratories. Fundamentally, NASA creates new technologies to meet challenging aeronautics and space program goals, and once proven, these technologies often have a multitude of productive uses in society. Making these sometimes surprising connections and transferring NASA’s technologies to the public is an important focus of NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program. IPP also seeks solutions to some of NASA’s pressing technical challenges by funding Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer projects; seeking cost-shared, technology development partnerships through the IPP Seed Fund; and tapping into new sources of innovation through NASA’s Centennial Challenges prize program. IPP seeks to facilitate and catalyze innovative partnerships in two directions: technology infusion to provide technical solutions to some of the challenges being faced by NASA’s programs and projects; and technology transfer—or spinoffs—to provide solutions to technical challenges in the private sector or other government agencies with NASA- developed technology.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. On October 4, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private vehicle to space twice in two weeks to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The X PRIZE Foundation has since launched the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE and the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, and will continue to offer new prizes for breakthroughs in the areas of life improvement, exploration, equity of opportunity and sustainability. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email us.

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$10 Million+ Competition to Offer First Glimpse of Contenders and Launch Search for Host Cities

DETROIT, MI, January 10, 2008 — The Automotive X PRIZE, a competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles, will release a Request for Proposal (RFP) to U.S. cities interested in hosting a stage of the 2009-2010 race competition at this year’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The Automotive X PRIZE will showcase the innovations of its early entrants at their booth during the show’s Press Preview and Industry Days, January 13-18.

The Automotive X PRIZE, which was created to help break the world’s addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change, is an independent and technology-neutral competition, open to teams from around the world who can design, build and bring to market 100 MPG equivalent vehicles that people want to buy, and that meet market needs for price, size, capability, safety and performance.

To date, more than fifty teams from seven countries have signed Letters of Intent to compete and the Automotive X PRIZE continues to solicit additional teams to enter the competition. The window of opportunity for interested teams to register will remain open for at least the next 60 days. Once the competition launches—in early 2008—those that qualify will embark on a rigorous cross country race that combines speed, distance, urban driving and overall performance in 2009-2010. The winners will need to exceed 100 MPG equivalent fuel economy, fall under strict emissions caps and finish in the fastest time.

“The Automotive X PRIZE has the potential to revolutionize the auto industry. Competitors and U.S. cities have a unique opportunity to help bring about tangible, positive change: lower fuel costs, reduced carbon emissions, and an invigorated market. Our participation in Detroit, and the launch of this RFP process are major milestones in this competition,” noted Don Foley, Executive Director of the Automotive X PRIZE.

The racing segment of the Automotive X PRIZE is expected to travel through ten U.S. cities while being broadcast to a global audience in 2009 and 2010, building consumer demand for vehicles in the competition and demonstrating many practical, clean and affordable vehicle options. This opportunity represents a visual, hands-on forum for Host Cities and individual administrations to drive public behavior toward reducing environmental impact. Details on the Host City RFP will be available at the Automotive X PRIZE booth.

In addition to seeking support from U.S. cities, the Automotive X PRIZE is seeking national, regional and local sponsors to underwrite the stage race competition. “Thousands of bright minds, from all over the world, will gather in Detroit next week. We’re hopeful that new individuals, groups and industry sponsors will see the possibilities within this competition, and answer our call to action,” added Foley.

To date, the Automotive X PRIZE has received support and encouragement from several government agencies that will help the privately funded organization conduct the competition and test vehicle compliance, including the U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory; the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway, Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ); and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

In addition, non-governmental organizations supporting the Automotive X PRIZE include the National Wildlife Federation, National Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, the Apollo Alliance, the Consumer Federation of America, Global Green USA, CALSTART and Greenpeace among others.

For more details on the Competition Guidelines or to view a list of the 50-plus teams that have signed a letter of intent to compete, please visit http://auto.xprize.org.

ABOUT NAIAS PARTICIPATION
Six teams that intend to compete in the Automotive X PRIZE competition will be available to speak on their early innovations at the Automotive X PRIZE booth in the Concourse as follows (note: subject to additions and change, please check in advance):

Sunday, January 13th
12:00 – 1:00pm Psycho-Active
1:00 – 2:00pm Tilting Vehicle Australia
2:00 – 3:00pm Michigan Vision
3:00 – 4:00pm Visionary Vehicles
4:00 – 5:00pm AlphaCore/Poulsen Hybrid

Monday, January 14th
11:30 – 12:30pm Visionary Vehicles
2:00 – 3:00pm Physics Lab of Lake Havasu
3:00 – 4:00pm Valentin Technologies
4:00 – 5:00pm Velozzi
(Velozzi also available Tues., Jan 15; 10:00 – 11:00)

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. On October 4, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation
captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private vehicle to space twice in two weeks to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The X PRIZE Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics and the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and will continue to offer new prizes for breakthroughs in the areas of life improvement, exploration, equity of opportunity and sustainability. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email using our contact form.

For more information about the Automotive X PRIZE please visit auto.xprize.org or email using our contact form.

Standing on the roof of a boxy old Buick, Kevin Smith has a great view of the vast boneyard at Kertow Auto Salvage, outside Taylorville, Illinois. He's here looking for the key to America's super-fuel-efficient future. "Found it," he says to me, spying a cluster of mid- to late-'90s Dodge Neons in the middle distance. He stomps down off the trunk and, followed by three buddies, converges on 11 promising carcasses.

The Board of Editors of Scientific American magazine has selected the X PRIZE Foundation for inclusion in the sixth annual Scientific American 50.

 

San Jose, CA, December 6th, 2007The first team to complete registration for the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE unveiled its plans today at the Space Investment Summit in San Jose, California. Representatives of Odyssey Moon announced their plans to make history with the first private robotic mission to the surface of the Moon and their intent to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. Odyssey Moon’s inaugural mission will involve a unique small robotic lander designed to deliver scientific, exploration and commercial payloads to the surface of the Moon.

 

Dr. George Church, one of the originators of the Human Genome Project and currently a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, has announced his intention to compete in the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics. His team, the Personal Genome X-Team (PGx), consists of some of the top minds in genomics and device research and development in the world.

 

The X PRIZE Foundation announced today two new board members: Arianna Huffington and Will Wright. Huffington is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post, a leading news and blog source on the Internet, as well as the author of 11 books. Wright is a globally recognized visionary in interactive entertainment and EA’s chief designer behind the block-buster game franchises “SimCity™,” “The Sims™” and the soon-to-be-released universe simulator “Spore™.”

 

After a weekend of presentations by the 10 finalists of the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award, and voting by the attendees of the 2007 X PRIZE Cup, Team Michael and Talia was named the First Prize winner. Michael Hakimi and Talia Nour-Omid, students from Los Angeles, came up with an idea for a pair of sunglasses that would effectively monitor all of a human being’s vital signs while in space.

 

Seven seconds prevented Armadillo Aerospace from winning the second year of competition in the two million dollar Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Over two days, Armadillo Aerospace attempted four times to achieve the two flights necessary to win the $350,000 Level I competition.

 

Senior Director, Marc Hodosh, and co-founder of Apple Computer, Steve Wozniak, talk with Dr. Moira Gunn about about the Archon X-Prize for Genomics and the difference it will make.  Click here to listen.

The X PRIZE Cup is an annual two-day air and space exposition. The public event is free and will be held on Saturday, Oct. 27th and Sunday, Oct. 28th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Media and Education Day, open to registered media and students only, will be held on Friday, Oct. 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This year the Cup takes place at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, N.M. to create the first ever Air & Space Expo with “live” fire / fly demonstrations and competitions.

Friday, Oct. 26: Media Day Press Conference Schedule
**Media are encouraged to arrive on base by 10:30 a.m.**
11:00 a.m.: Welcome by Brigadier General David Goldfein, Commander of the 49th Test Squadron
11:10 a.m.: Remarks and Q&A with the teams competing in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge
11:40 a.m.: Announcement by Teachers in Space Project
12:00 p.m.: Announcement by Rocketplane Global and Launch Magazine
12:20 p.m.: Announcement by Rocket Racing League
12:45 p.m.: Photo opps on the flightline with Rocket Racing League and incoming planes

Friday, Oct. 26: Education Day Highlights
(Happening continuously from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.)
• 5th grade model rocket fly-off
• 6th grade balloon rocket race
• 7th grade EGGS Prize
• 8th grade Lego Climber
• Displays by the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award Finalists
• Astronaut talks

Sat. & Sun., October 27 & 28: X PRIZE Cup and Holloman Air & Space Expo Highlights
• Free and open to the public – Gates open at 8 a.m.
• Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NG-LLC) flights
• High-powered amateur rocket launches
• German Air Force Tornado tactical demonstration
• F-22 Raptor flyover
• Opening Ceremonies at noon
o Saturday: The Honorable Marion C. Blakey, FAA Administrator, to be recognized
o Sunday: Awards given out to students competing for the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award, NG-LLC winners
• Wings of Blue Skydiving Team
• CV-22 Para-rescue demonstration
• F-117 Nighthawk tactical demonstration
• Red Bull MIG-17 helicopter
• F-16 Viper demonstration

For media registration, please email us with your name, organization,
contact info and nationality (Air Force requirements).

ABOUT THE X PRIZE CUP AND HOLLOMAN AIR & SPACE EXPO
The X PRIZE Cup is the result of a partnership between the X PRIZE Foundation and the State of New Mexico to build the world's first true rocket festival. For 2007, the X PRIZE Cup and Holloman Air Force Base have teamed up to produce an action-packed Air & Space Expo. For more information, please visit www.xprizecup.com or call (310) 576-3473.

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The ten finalists for the inaugural Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award will have their ideas on display at the 2007 X PRIZE Cup. Teams of high school students from all over the United States proposed ideas that could accelerate the personal spaceflight industry.

 

The six judges from last year’s challenge, with more than 200 years of space experience between them, will again be overseeing the competition. They will be deciding a winner of the competition and other elements of the $2 million prize.

 

Santa Monica, Calif., October 10, 2007—The $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the largest medical prize in history, has gone international. Today the X PRIZE Foundation announced that base4 innovation, a United Kingdom company, has been approved as a competitor.

 

The 2007 Wirefly X PRIZE Cup is the first ever Air & Space Expo with “live” fire / fly demonstrations and competitions. The X PRIZE Foundation and Holloman Air Force Base have teamed up for this historic event -- not a moment will go by where an airplane or rocket is not taking off or landing.

At the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting in New York City, the X PRIZE Foundation made a seven-year, $300 million Commitment to Action in the areas of Education, Energy and Climate Change, Poverty Alleviation and Global Health. The X PRIZE Foundation fosters innovative, high-profile competitions that motivate individuals, companies and organizations across all industry sectors to solve grand challenges that are currently restricting humanity’s progress.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., September 13, 2007 – The X PRIZE Foundation and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a remarkable $30 million prize purse. Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., September 10, 2007 —The Automotive X PRIZE (AXP), a competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles to help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change, announced Thursday that automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin and his company, Visionary Vehicles, have officially joined the list of 36 teams who have signed a letter of intent to compete, once the prize is officially funded and launched.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., August 16, 2007 –The X PRIZE Foundation, an educational nonprofit prize institute created to foster radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity, today announced the appointment of Mahasti Afshar as Vice President, Alliances. Afshar comes to the Foundation with immense project development, fundraising and strategic planning experience in the non-profit sector.

Former arts and culture executive will collaborate with progressive organizations and thought-leaders to develop future X PRIZEs.

 

Media and Education day is from 9am – 3pm, Friday, October 26th
To register, please email press@xprize.org with your name, organization,
contact info and nationality, if not a U.S. citizen (Air Force requirements).

 

Got a good idea? Your eco-friendly brainstorm or media scheme might be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars