Ten inventors joined the ranks of a select few in the Inventor’s Hall of Fame in an Induction ceremony sponsored by the United States Patent & Trademark Office this year. The annual event held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and The National Portrait gallery welcomed seven living inventors and three posthumously. This year’s inductees were;
Akira Endo – Discovered mevastatin (a huge breakthrough in drugs treating high cholesterol).
Dennis Gabor – Gabor passed away in 1979, however his research in electron optics let to the invention of holography which has several modern day applications.
Steve Jobs – With a number of innovations under his belt, Jobs is recognized as a major contributor to modern technology and other industries.
Barbara Liskov – An MIT professor, Barbara has proven herself an innovator by designing CLU and Argus (computer programming languages used that compliment other major languages such as Java and C++).
C. Kumar N. Patel – Mr. Patel invented the carbon dioxide laser which has broad applications in medical, industrial and military fields.
Lubomyr Romankiw and David Thompson – They developed usable magnetic thin film storage heads, increasing the capacity of storage drives and reducing infrastructure costs.
Gary Starkweather – Gary invented the laser printer, a revolutionary product that was key to Xerox’s early success.
Maria Telkes – Maria passed away in 1995, but contributed heavily to early developments in solar energy use.
Alejandro Zaffaroni – A major player in the biotechnology field, Alejandro developed new controlled delivery methods for medications. Most notable is his concept for transdermal patches.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the hall of fame.
*The National Inventors Hall of Fame annually accepts nominations for men and women whose work has changed society and improved the quality of life. The candidate’s invention must be covered by a United States patent, and the work must have had a major impact on society, the public welfare, and the progress of science and the useful arts.