special edition of "kqed newsroom" about bay area innovateers. from silicon valley tech giants to world class research universities, the bay area is home to big thinkers and ground breaking technology. today we will hear from engineers, entrepreneurs and scientists who are creating new products to help solve products here and around the world. one is helping get interest free loans while building up credit. two young women are helping girls get excited about engineering through toys that spark the imagination. another bay area entrepreneur is hoping technology will help get food to thousands of hungry of people in the bai. first we start in the world of science. one of four bay area people to win a prestigious genius grant from the mcarthur foundation. he was recognized for creating a microscope out of paper that cost less than a dollar to make. it is being used in 130 countries. he is developing tools to track how diseases are spread in the tropics and u.s. physical biologist demonstrated one of his famous inventions here in our studio. nice to

. >> that doesn't tell you that apple is any more of an innov e innovat innovator, a better financialngineer if they do that. >> apple is so secretive and yet we do hear about innovations in the media. we don't hear about everything but we do hear about some things. vr, ar, self-driving cars, a our own checks, interested in personal robots. we just don't see it on conference call, at the big events they hold a couple times a year. behind the scenes i think they're innovating. >> angelo, are you comfortable with this content strategy that apple has at this point? the services numbers that they put out last week were impressive but the most in content lately is tentative. >> yeah, i mean, if we look at the services business, i mean, it's a business we think will grow on an annual basis of 15% to 20% a year. the move into content is going to play a huge role in to the potential growth going for ward. it's really tough to say exactly what apple is thinking as far as content is concerned. i mean, one second we think they're going to take a big move and the next second it seems like it's go

. >>> happening today tech innovat oh, rs are getting ready to show off their latest items at the electronic show in las vegas. it's the big one. 3800 exhibitors are there. they are wait fog art rival of 16 5,000 visitors. it's considered the place to get a first look at things like vr shoes. they make you feel like are you walking in snow. or a together brush with artificial intelligencet. can tell you where you need to do more brushing. >> you can improve your brushing skills by looking on the app and is he seeing what you are missing. >> wow. it therewill be a lot of technology surprises along with advancements in interest introduced concepts like drones and robots and 3d printing. even wearable items. the show will open todayt. will continue through sunday and we are going to bring a i live report on mornings on 2 from ces. that's coming up in the 7:00 hour. >>> late their month millions of ford driver also get amazon's as alexa technology in their carf. you own ford vehicle was the sync3 entertainment system lue get the feature by the end of the month. it'll let you start or stop your c

allow us to be somewhat innovative, but we need some flexibility in order to implement some of the innovat n innovatio innovations. i had a chance to sit with a group of alaskaans on saturday in anchorage. they were from the -- everyone from the director of the division of insurance to our commissioner of health and social services, representative of the only provider on the individual market, representatives from small, rural hospitals, doctors. it was representatives from the tribal health organizations. it was a good mix of individuals. obviously we got different views and opinions about where we go with this replacement of the aca and what that would need to look like to help address the needs and issues in a very rural, very fronti frontier, very high cost -- the highest cost insurance, the highest cost health care costs. we're down to one provider on the individual market, so we've got all the demographics that would tell you that this is -- this is a difficult place to be operating right now. we as a state moved forward with medicaid expansion a couple of years ago. some 27,000 alas

it can also stimulate innovat n innovation. >> does one go with the next in order to drive down costs need tax reform, regulatory reform or can you do it separately? >> i think all these things come together to actually create a system that's good for innovation. it is good for jobs. most importantly, it is good for patients in the long run. thank you. >> are you more hopeful now than you were in the last administration that maybe prices could come down as the president talks about tax cuts and regulatory reform and the like? >> i think there are real opportunities if we work on all those things to ensure that we have a more efficient system that actually allows greater innovation for the drugs that we need for tomorrow, for conditions like alzheimer's and cancer. also, allows us to lower costs in the system for everybody. most importantly, including patients. thank you. >> let me share one thing, also. about how positive the president is and how constructive we are about reforming health care and the changes he is proposing are ones, i think, will be great for the country and consume