Groundbreakers in the field of Nanotechnology worldwide, these scientists have created new, revolutionary materials and transcendental techniques for fighting diseases, such as those related to the brain and cancer, and for producing artificial tissues and organs. Their work also stands out for its contribution to the protection of the environment and energy saving via the use of new sources of clean energy that may be produced at a low cost.

All these technological innovations and scientific discoveries are of special importance in the fight against poverty, such as the inexpensive purification of drinking water in the planet´s more underprivileged areas. The possibility of using reduced-cost, low-energy consumption sources of light in this fight is likewise worthy of mention.

Tobin Marks was born in Washington (USA) in 1944. He is considered a leader in the field of chemical catalysis, having developed processes for numerous types of recyclable, environmentally-friendly plastics. He has developed a prototype of third-generation photovoltaic solar cells, composed of flexible, efficient, low-cost, organic materials, as well as sensors and light modulators for transmitting data more efficiently. His achievements also include transistors and light-emitting diodes based on organic materials (OLEDs), which lead to energy savings and may be incorporated in electronic devices such as PDAs, cellular phones, as well as being the basis of what is known as electronic paper.

He obtained his bachelor´s degree from the University of Maryland in 1966 and his Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1970. He is currently Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science and Catalytic Chemistry at Northwestern University (Chicago).

He is the author of 902 articles and 87 patents and has received, among other distinctions, the National Medal of Science (USA, 2005), the Royal Society of Chemistry Medal (United Kingdom), the German Chemical Society Karl Ziegler Medal and American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal. Outstanding among the other awards he has received are American Chemical Society Awards in Polymeric Materials (1983), Organometallic Chemistry (1989), Materials Chemistry (1994), Inorganic Chemistry (2001), and Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry (2008), the Willard Gibbs Medal (2001), the Linus Pauling Medal (2001), the Cotton Medal (2000), the Paolo Chini Award of the Italian Chemical Society (1999), the Centenary and Frankland Medals from the Royal Society of Chemistry (1997, 2004), and the Burwell Award from the North American Catalysis Society (2001). He is a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the German National Academy of Sciences.