Fergana Polytechnic Institute, Faculty of Computerized Design Systems, 48-21 group student

Tech Innovators: Bill Gates

Gates discovered his love for computing early and wrote his first software program at just 13. After dropping out of Harvard, Gates and friend, Paul Allen would go on to co-found one of the world’s biggest software companies, Microsoft. Gates’ approach to technology and business was instrumental in achieving his dream of ‘a computer for every desk’. This dream would go on to propel this small company of just 30 people, to a multi-billion global force and turn this entrepreneur into the youngest self-made billionaire.
Gates was pivotal in Microsoft’s launch of Windows 95 which redefined home computing, introducing features such as the Start Menu that still define Microsoft’s operating system today. With over 80% of computers using Windows, Windows also powers servers, mobile phones, PDAs, cash machines and more.
In 2000, Gates and his wife established the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which aims to enhance healthcare, expand education opportunities and reduce extreme poverty on a global level. In 2016, the pair were awarded with the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom for their work within the foundation.

Tech Innovators: Elon Musk

After studying economics, Musk set his focus on the three areas he believed would affect the future of humanity, saying “One was the Internet, one was clean energy, and one was space”. After several smaller ventures, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services company that would later be sold to eBay, which is known today as ‘PayPal’.
Musk founded his next company, SpaceX with plans to build a spacecraft for commercial space travel and reducing the cost of space transportation. It didn’t take long for SpaceX to become well established and be awarded the contract to handle cargo transport for the International Space Station, with plans for astronaut transport in the future to replace NASA’s own space shuttle missions.
With a vision for green energy in the car industry, Musk co-founded Tesla, Inc. in 2003 – a company dedicated to producing affordable, mass-market electric cars, as well as battery products and solar roofs. Musk’s work within Tesla overcame decades of criticism by showing electric cars to be more sustainable, and economical to run, and likely to play a key role in the future of transport.