Guy Diedrich (left), vice chancellor for technology commercialization, presented five Innovation Awards to Ohannes Eknoyan (accepting Henry Taylor’s posthumous award), Emile Schweikert, Timothy Phillips, George Chiou and Mark Holtzapple.
(College Station)—“It takes a special vision to see how a discovery can lead to an end product,” said Texas A&M University System Chancellor Michael D. McKinney, M.D., to a group of System researchers and inventors Feb. 23.
“You—the inventors, discoverers and innovators of the A&M System—are part of a great heritage. This celebration is an acknowledgement of your imagination, your spirit of innovation, and the positive influence you and the A&M System have on our state, country and world,” he said.
McKinney and the A&M System’s Office of Technology Commercialization recognized 25 System inventors during the 2007 Patent and Innovation Awards Feb. 23 at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, in the George Bush Presidential Library complex at Texas A&M University.
“You are the ‘idea’ people, the intellectual capital of the A&M System,” Guy Diedrich, A&M System vice chancellor for technology commercialization, said to those attending, who included patent attorneys and other event sponsors. “We are dedicated to partnering with you and with our industry partners to bring A&M System discoveries in medicine, agriculture, energy, chemical industries, biofuels and even intelligent vision and robotics, to the marketplace.”
Five Innovation Awards were presented to scientists and inventors whose research exemplifies the spirit of innovation within the A&M System.
Recipients included George Chiou, a professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at the Texas A&M Health Science Center, and a leader in the research and development of new drugs for eye diseases.
The other four Innovation Award recipients are affiliated with Texas A&M University, including Timothy Phillips, a toxicology professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine whose research focuses on molecular toxicology with an emphasis on food-borne and environmental contaminants. Phillips was recognized for his research related to contaminants of food, particularly aflatoxins. He and his colleagues have demonstrated that ingesting certain clay-based materials can reduce the toxicity of such contaminants.
Recognized with Patent Awards were A&M System inventors whose inventions were granted patent protection from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in 2006.
“I’m especially pleased to receive this award,” said Phillips, “and grateful to the Office of Technology Commercialization for their hard work in helping launch a new company to commercialize these novel clay-based products to diminish exposure to food-borne carcinogens and benefit public health.”
Other recipients from Texas A&M were Mark Holtzapple, a chemical engineering professor and Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) researcher who holds numerous patents and whose research focuses on converting biomass to useful, cleaner burning fuels and fuel-efficient engines; and Emile Schweikert, a chemistry professor who has worked to interface the university’s research resources with the outside world through the Industry-University Cooperative Chemistry Program.
Receiving an Innovation Award posthumously was Henry Taylor, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering and TEES researcher for 21 years prior to his death in April 2006. Taylor held numerous patents and developed, among other equipment, a fiber-optic intrusion detection sensor for monitoring movement over a long distance.
A total of 21 Patent Awards were presented to individuals who are currently employed by the A&M System and whose inventions were granted patent protection from the United States Patent & Trademark Office in 2006. The inventors received plaques with engravings replicating the actual patent documents.
Of the recipients’ inventions and activity, Diedrich said the true value is best measured when considering the outstanding research, investment in new ventures, and the resulting benefits to society, including economic development.
Patent Award recipients included Magnus Höök of the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center; and Dean C. Alberson and D. Lance Bullard of Texas Transportation Institute, who were recognized for crash cushions that regain their original form after being struck.
“It’s always great to be recognized for your research, but it’s more important to see our work implemented,” said Bullard. “We look forward to our product being placed on the roadways, where it will bring added safety to the public.”
“We have an obligation to bring your innovations to the public, to take a leadership role in developing discoveries that have the potential to improve lives,” said Chancellor McKinney at the event.
Eighteen of the 21 Patent Award recipients are faculty or staff members at Texas A&M University. Those affiliated with the Dwight Look College of Engineering and TEES are David E. Claridge, Richard R. Davison, Mehrdad Ehsani, Mark T. Holtzapple, Yue Kuo, Alexander G. Parlos, Hamid A. Toliyat, William D. Turner and Matthew M. Whiteacre.
Patent Award recipients affiliated with the College of Science are Goong Chen, Edward S. Fry, George W. Kattawar, Gyula Vigh, Ralph A. Zingaro and Muhammad S. Zubairy.
Others receiving Patent Awards were Charles H. Culp III with the Colleges of Architecture and Engineering and TEES; Jeff S. Haberl with the College of Architecture; and T. Erik Mirkov with the College of Agriculture and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES).
On behalf of the A&M System, Chancellor McKinney expressed gratitude to the inventors for their accomplishments and “for being able to innovate, to think differently than the rest of us.” He stressed the importance of making available to the public, through commercialization, the results of their work. “The entire A&M System has long been dedicated to the principles of making higher education accessible to all who strive for self-betterment, and for bringing practical solutions to the world,” he said. 