Chiou Receives 2007 Patent and Innovation Awards
The luncheon and awards ceremony were held today at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center in the George Bush Presidential Library complex at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
“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,” said Texas A&M University System Chancellor Michael D. McKinney, M.D., who delivered the keynote address. “It takes a special vision to see how a discovery can lead to an end product. You—the inventors, discoverers and innovators of the A&M System—are part of a great heritage. 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. 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.”
Guy Diedrich, A&M System vice chancellor for technology commercialization, added, “You are the ‘idea’ people, the intellectual capital of the A&M System. The Office of Technology Commercialization is dedicated to partnering with you and with our industry partners, to bring A&M System discoveries in medicine, agriculture, energy, chemical industries, biofuels, even intelligent vision and robotics, to the marketplace. The value of our activity is best measured when considering your outstanding research, the investment in new ventures, and the resulting benefits to society, including economic development.”
Five Innovation Awards were presented to scientists and inventors whose research exemplifies the spirit of innovation within the A&M System.
Innovation Award 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. They are 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; 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; 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.
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).
Patent Award recipients also include 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.
Release courtesy of A&M System Communications.
