International Edition
Search
CNN.com Home Page -
ON CNN TV
PROGRAMS
Schedule | Anchors & Reporters | Contact us | Headline News |
In association with

who is on The committee

Adventurers, iconoclasts, great minds and visionaries - the nominating committee for our second Future Summit program combines the talents and skills of people who have already made a huge impact on the world. These talented individuals are working on diverse projects: making space travel a reality for us all; developing engines that will run on clean fuel; designing cars that can drive themselves. As members of the CNN Future Summit Nominating Committee, they're helping to shape our discussion of the future of our world in motion.

Eric Anderson

If you want to travel to space right now, Eric Anderson is your man. CEO of Space Adventures, Anderson has helped four private citizens enjoy trips to the International Space Station, most recently Anousheh Ansari. And there are even more adventures ahead, including a space walk and suborbital space flights.

Anousheh Ansari

Anousheh Ansari captured the headlines recently as the world's first female space tourist. "My favourite moment," Anousheh Ansari said while aboard the International Space Station, "was when I was able to see the earth for the first time and see it so beautiful and peaceful in the dark background and it was a moment I will never forget." An active proponent of world-changing technologies, her family also provides the title sponsorship for the Ansari X-Prize.

Robert Bigelow

Your first visit to space may be to one of Robert Bigelow's hotels. The American entrepreneur, owner of the Budget Suites of America hotel chain, is working to give space tourists a destination. Bigelow Aerospace is designing inflatable space station modules. The first test module was successfully launched in July.

Peter Diamandis

As founder of the Ansari X-Prize, Diamandis helped open the gateway to affordable space tourism. The $10 million prize was won by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan in October of 2004. "At this point, there's at least six to eight teams building private space ships," Diamandis told CNN Future Summit earlier this year. "So I expect that you and I will be able to buy a ticket to fly into space in late 2008, late 2009 at the latest." Just a year ago, Diamandis helped lay the groundwork for what may be the sport of the future: The Rocket Racing League, a project that could get underway by 2007.

Steve Fossett

Many people fly thousands of kilometers for business and pleasure every year. In only two flights this year, Steve Fossett flew more than 82 thousand kilometers, setting two new world records! The famed adventurer has circled the earth in aboard a sailboat, a balloon, an airplane by himself.

Raymond Freymann

What will secure our mobility in the future? This question drives Prof Freymann since he was appointed as Managing Director of the BMW Group Research and Technology in 2003. Freymann, nominated Professor at the Technical University of Munich in 2002, is regarded as a luminary of automotive research and development. He can refer to more than 100 technical publications and more than 25 national/international patents. His visionary work was clearly demonstrated by the H2R project, a hydrogen-powered record car with a top speed exceeding 300 kph.

Lino Guzzella

Designing cars that are highly fuel-efficient and that reduce harmful emissions is the goal of Lino Guzzella, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. His team designed the PAC-Car II, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that won the Energy Globe Award in November 2005.

Ian Pearson

If it's in the future, Ian Pearson has probably considered it. "In thirty years time," he tells CNN, "we'll be starting to see the start of the hydrogen economy, we'll have completely different kinds of cars than we have today, and most of the highways will be completely automated." As the futurist-in-residence for BT, Pearson is in a key position to see what lies ahead. You'll hear his ideas of the future on CNN Future Summit: World in Motion.

Hermann Scheer

When it comes to developing alternatives to oil, Hermann Scheer is one of the leaders in the search for viable alternatives to an oil economy. A member of the German parliament since 1980, Scheer also serves as the President of the European Association for Renewable Energy and the General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy. Among his many honors, he was named "Hero for the Green Century" by Time Magazine in 2002.

Dr Gerhard Schmidt

Dr. Schmidt leads Ford's worldwide research organization based in Dearborn , Michigan , and Aachen , Germany . The research and advanced engineering staff of approximately 1,300 scientists, engineers and technicians is dedicated to supporting Ford Motor Company as a world leader in providing safe, sustainable and affordable mobility through innovation in science and technology. As head of the advanced engineering group, he also oversees the planning, development and implementation of Ford's top global technology objectives.

Sebastian Thrun

Imagine your car driving you from San Francisco to Los Angeles, while you sit and enjoy the ride. That's a vision that Sebastian Thrun is working to turn into a reality. Thrun, the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, is helping to develop a future where your car is a robot and the highways you drive along are automated. To that end, Thrun's team built Stanley, a robotic car that won the DARPA Grand Challenge and is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

Takehisa Yaegashi

Known as the father of the hybrid car, Dr. Takehisa Yaegashi led the Toyota team that took science out of the laboratory and put it into the showroom by developing the Toyota Hybrid System for mass production, starting with its introduction in the Prius. Previously, Yaegashi headed overall Toyota development efforts for clean-burning gasoline engines and advanced engine management systems for ultra-low emission vehicles. He continues to contribute his knowledge and expertise to Toyota toward the development of cleaner powertrains.

Search
© 2007 Cable News Network.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map.
Offsite Icon External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pipeline Icon Pay service with live and archived video. Learn more
Radio News Icon Download audio news  |  RSS Feed Add RSS headlines