At its April 11, 2002 Annual Inventors Luncheon, NC State honored 40 faculty inventors who received 48 U.S. patents in 2001. Eight of the 2001 patents awarded are in the fields of micro- and nanotechnology. There have been approximately 100 nanotechnology invention disclosures and 50 patents filed in the past three years.

Luncheon speaker Dr. Charles Moreland, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies, presented an overview of the phenomenal growth in patents and spin-off companies at NC State over the past eight years. “It’s important that our research yields innovative results that pass the uniqueness tests for patents—but more important that most of our patents either have been licensed by industry or have been sufficiently pioneering to serve as the basis for forming new companies and attracting venture capital. These are some of the clearest signs of a research university’s economic value.”

The following faculty members received awards: Jonathan C. Allen, B. Jayant Baliga,* Frank A. Blazich, Medwick V. Byrd, Ruben G. Carbonell,* Denis R. Cormier, Robert T. Croswell, Christopher R. Daubert, Robert F. Davis,** Joseph M. DeSimone,** Edward A. Foegeding, Ronald S. Gyurcsik,, John A. Heitmann, Jr., Walter A. Hendrix, Andrew K. Hotchkiss, Heather M. Hudson, Robert M. Kelly, Saad A. Khan, Peter Kilpatrick, Todd R. Klaenhammer, Jacob A. Konzelmann, Jonathan S. Lindsey,* Gerardo A. Montero, H. Troy Nagle, James N. Petitte, Arnold Reisman, Injong Rhee, George W. Roberts, Edward C. Sisler, Robert C. Smart, Brent Smith, Steven L. Spiker, Kenneth R. Swartzel, James B. Taylor, William F. Thompson, Mary B. Tompkins, Wayne A. Tompkins, John G. Vandenbergh, Qiwu Wang, Harvey A. West, Tsvetanka S. Zheleva

* Two patents awarded
**Three patents awarded