October 27, 2008

Purdue Research Foundation honors faculty entrepreneurs, inventors

Honorees are being recognized for breakthroughs that have resulted, or may soon result, in commercial applications to benefit society.

"For the sixth year in a row, the Purdue Research Foundation is proud to recognize the inventors and trendsetters among the Purdue faculty and staff," said Joseph B. Hornett, vice president, treasurer and COO of the Purdue Research Foundation. "With the close partnership between Purdue University and the Office of Technology Commercialization, the discoveries made by researchers at Purdue can move into development and to public delivery."

The top honor at the dinner, the 2008 Outstanding Commercialization Award, went to Stephen R. Byrn, head, Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences; Charles B. Jordan Professor of Medicinal Chemistry; and co-founder of SSCI (Solid State Chemical Information) in the Purdue Research Park.

"SSCI is a real-world example that shows how ideas and strategies developed by faculty can be delivered to the public through the assistance of university research parks that serve as 'incubators' for economic development," Byrn said.

In the fiscal year July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008, Purdue Research Foundation reported 248 invention disclosures, compared with 222 the year before, and 31 issued patents submitted by 44 Purdue faculty researchers. The foundation also reported the creation of 10 new companies formed from Purdue-licensed technologies.

The 44 faculty researchers recognized at the dinner were:   

* Mikhail Atallah, associate department head and distinguished professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Science; professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

* Osman Basaran, Reilly Professor of Fluid Mechanics, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering

* Dor Ben-Amotz (four patents), professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Science

* Donald Bergstrom, Walther Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences

* Arun Bhunia, professor, Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture

* Richard Borch, Lilly Distinguished Professor and Head, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences

* Richard Borgens, director, Center for Paralysis Research; Mari Hulman George Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine; professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

* Charles Bouman (eight patents), Michael J. and Katherine R. Birck Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, College of  Engineering

* Ray Bressan, distinguished professor, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture

* Stephen R. Byrn, head, Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences; Charles B. Jordan Professor of Medicinal Chemistry

* Srinivasan Chandrasekar, director, Center for Materials Processing and Tribology; professor, School of Industrial Engineering; professor, School of Materials Engineering, College of Engineering

* W. Dale Compton, Lillian M. Gilbreth Distinguished Professor Emeritus, School of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering

* R. Graham Cooks (three patents), Henry B. Hass Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Science

* Mark Cushman, professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences

* V. Jo Davisson, professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences

* Vladimir Drachev, senior research scientist, Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

* Vincent Drnevich, P.E., professor, School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering

* Thomas Farris, head and professor, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, College of Engineering

* Suresh V. Garimella, R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Professor of Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering

* James L. Garrison, associate professor, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics; associate professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

* Stanton Gelvin (two patents), H. Edwin Umbarger Distinguished Professor of Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science    

* Jay Gore, director, Energy Center; Vincent P. Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering; professor, School of Chemical Engineering; professor, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, College of Engineering

* Paul Hasegawa, professor, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture

* Christine Hrycyna, associate professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Science

* Jong-Hyeok Jeon, senior research scientist, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

* Linda Katehi, provost, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; former John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering at Purdue University, College of Engineering

* Michael Ladisch, director, Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering; Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering; Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering; Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering

* Robert Lucht, Ralph and Bettye Bailey Professor of Combustion in Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering; Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, College of Engineering

* Scott McLuckey, John A. Leighty Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Science

* Saeed Mohammadi, associate professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

* Zheng Ouyang (two patents), assistant professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering; assistant professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

* Kinam Park, Showalter Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering; professor, Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences

* Bartlomiej Rajwa, research scientist, Bindley Bioscience Center

* Karthik Ramani, professor, School of Mechanical Engineering; professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

* John Rice, distinguished professor emeritus, Department of Computer Science, College of Science

* J. Paul Robinson (two patents), SVM Professor of Cytomics, School of Veterinary Medicine; professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

* Kaushik Roy (three patents), Roscoe H. George Professor of Electrical and Computer  Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

* Vladimir Shalaev, Robert and Anne Burnett Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

* Riyi Shi, associate professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering; associate professor, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine

* Garth Simpson, associate professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Science

* Daniel Smith, visiting assistant professor, Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences

* David H. Thompson, professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Science

* Kevin Trumble, professor, School of Materials Engineering, College of Engineering

* Andrew Weiner, Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

The complete list of faculty and staff researchers recognized at the dinner also can be found at https://www.prf.org/patents

Previous recipients of the Outstanding Commercialization Award include Phillip Low, the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Fred Regnier (RE-neer), the John H. Law Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Leslie A. Geddes, the Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering; Alok Chaturvedi (a-LOKE CHAT-ter-veh-dee); and Cooks.

About Purdue Research Foundation

The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. The foundation accepts gifts, administers trust, funding research scholarships and grants, acquires property and negotiates research contracts on behalf of Purdue. In the 1990s, the foundation was charged with helping the university in the realm of economic development. The Purdue Research Foundation oversees the Purdue Research Park, which is the largest university-affiliated business incubator in the country. In addition to the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, the foundation has established or is currently constructing technology parks in other locations around Indiana including Merrillville, New Albany and Indianapolis.

To the Purdue Research Park, https://www.purdueresearchpark.com

Note to Journalists: The media are invited to attend the Inventors' Recognition Dinner, which will take place at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 27 in the Purdue Memorial Union North Ballroom. To reserve a seat, contact Steve Martin, (765) 494-6872, sgmartin@prf.org .

Contact at Purdue Research Park: Steve Martin, (765) 494-6872, sgmartin@prf.org

Contact at Purdue News Service: Marydell Forbes (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu

Sources: Joseph B. Hornett, (765) 494-6072, jbhornett@prf.org

Stephen Byrn, (765) 494-1460, sbyrn@purdue.edu