National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce

Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE Winners Announced

Wendy Schmidt with Sunburst Sensors, winners of the Ocean Health XPRIZE.

July 21, 2015

The winners of the $2 Million Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE were announced yesterday at an awards ceremony held in New York. Winning first place in both the affordability and accuracy categories, Sunburst Sensors received $1.5 Million in prizes for two different sensor designs. ANB Sensors placed second in affordability, while Team DuraFET won second place in the accuracy category; each team took home $250,000.

During the ceremony, a Foreign Affairs panel addressing technology and policy supporting ocean health was held.  The panel, which featured NOAA Chief Scientist Rick Spinrad, Stewart Patrick (Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations), Ghislaine Maxell (Founder, The TerraMar Project), and Sherri Goodman (CEO, Ocean Leadership), was attended by PMEL scientists that served as part of the Validation Team for the Ocean Health XPRIZE competition. 

Read more about PMEL’s Carbon Group and their role in the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE and watch this video about Sunburst Sensors to learn more about the winning team. 

PMEL Project: