'30 Under 30' features the brightest minds of our time

Forbes recently released its annual 30 Under 30 list. This comprehensive list includes 600 men and women who best define America’s next generation of inspirational inventors for the future.

30 Under 30 depletes over 15,000 nominated individuals down to 600. These 600 individuals are then divided into 20 different categories such as Art & Style, Consumer Tech, Music, Games, and Law & Policy, amongst 25 others.

According to Forbes, they assign reporters to “field nominations from social media and [its] online nomination form, as well as personal contacts and gumshoe work.”

The top 30 in each field are considered alongside judges, who are experts in their particular field of interest. For instance, Carmelo Anthony and Jessica Alba are considered judges for their work in sports and entertainment. Past 30 Under 30 winners have also been included as judges.

Key Standouts and Names to know

Among the recognizable names in the sports category include Point guard Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Pitcher Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets, and Quarterback Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers, as well as Little League pitcher Mo’ne Davis.

“I hate Steph Curry,” said Senior Brandon Balog, a massive Cavaliers fan.

“In a sense I [also] hate Steph Curry,” said Senior Nick Matt. “But I wish he was on the Cavs because he’s extremely good.”

In Games, Jordan Maron placed at the top of the category for his work on YouTube as CaptainSparklez and the founder of XREAL, a game studio which released its first mobile game, Fortress Fury, in May 2015.

Standout names from other categories include John Boyega, whose role as Finn in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, propelled him to the top of the Hollywood & Entertainment list. 17-year old Canadian artist Shawn Mendes took the top spot in the Music category.

The 30 categories do not focus on just athletes and artists, but also engineers, cofounders, and members in their associations. For instance, the sports category includes Talent marketing executive Mark Burns and New York Jets Director of scouting Brian Heimerdinger, while the education category includes Matthew Ramirez, who uses artificial intelligence to teach students how to write.

Forbes also looked into how the winners identify themselves in certain areas.

For instance, Forbes found that the participants looked up to Elon Musk and Sheryl Sandberg as mentors, and that the iPhone was the most popular product that the individuals couldn’t live without. 69% of the winners had earned college degrees, while 50% have no college debt.

The top five cities that the class of 2016 were most commonly from New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago. The least-surprising of the statistics was the number 1 gadget: The iPhone.