NJ Inventors Hall of Fame 2018
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2009 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES 

Yvonne Claeys Brill
​Innovations in Rocket and Jet Propulsion
Yvonne C. Brill expanded the frontiers of space operations through innovations in rocket and jet propulsion, especially in rocket propulsion systems for geosynchronous communication satellites. Her concept of a satellite propulsion system to solve complex problems in acquiring and maintaining station resulted in an important invention. Two aspects of Ms. Brill’s invention are of special significance: she conceived of a new rocket engine, the hydrazine resistojet, and she foresaw the inherent value and simplicity of using a single propellant. Her invention resulted not only in higher engine performance but also increased reliability of the propulsion system and, because of the reduction in propellant weight requirements, either increased payload capability or extended mission life. This invention was subsequently commercialized, and the hydrazine resistojet thruster became a standard in the industry. As a result, Ms. Brill has earned an international reputation as a pioneer in space exploration and utilization.

After receiving her M.S. in chemistry from the University of Southern California, Ms. Brill’s career began at Douglas Aircraft but shifted into the new field of rockets when her employer was awarded the Project RAND contract. Ms. Brill helped pioneer studies that defined rocket propellant performance and derived thermodynamic properties for rocket exhaust gas species. The data from these studies helped provide the first industry standards. At RCA she managed the fabrication of the Teflon Solid Propellant Propulsion System (TSPPS) flown on the RCA/U.S. Navy NOVA spacecraft. Successful flight of the first TSPPS system in 1981 brought electric propulsion to an operational status in the United States. The TSPPS enabled three NOVA satellites to make precise ephemeris or geolocation data available in real time to users of the Navy’s Navigational Satellite System until the Global Positioning Satellite System supplanted it.

​Ms. Brill is a consultant in satellite technology and space propulsion systems. She has served on numerous NASA and National Research Council committees evaluating space missions and is a member of the NRC’s Space Studies Board. Her honors include membership in the National Academy of Engineering, the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award, and NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal.
Edward Taylor
Development of Molecule “Alimta”
Princeton University Professor Emeritus Taylor has spent much of his career seeking the therapeutic potential of folic acid inhibitors, which offered the prospect of disrupting the ability of tumor cells to process folates and synthesize DNA. The challenge was to find compounds that would disrupt folic acid processing only in cancer cells while leaving healthy ones alone. In 1985, after researching hundreds of compounds, Dr. Taylor and his team discovered a promising molecule called DDATHF. Collaborating with Eli Lilly and Company scientists, the Princeton team patented several variants before Dr. Taylor applied for U.S. Patent 5,344,932 on pemetrexed in 1991. This molecule targets and blocks simultaneously three key folate-requiring enzymes needed for tumor growth. After thirteen years of tests and trials, the Food and Drug Administration approved it, or Alimta, as the only drug for treating malignant pleural mesothelioma. Since 1994 the FDA has approved it, combined with cisplatin, for use on some lung cancers and trials are under way for other cancers. By end of 2008, Alimta stood as the most successful new cancer drug, based on sales, in history.

​Dr. Taylor is the author of 52 U.S. patents and over 450 scientific papers on heterocyclic chemistry, organothallium chemistry, natural product chemistry, medicinal chemistry and synthetic methodology. After receiving the Ph.D. from Cornell University, he joined the faculty at Princeton University in 1954. In 1966 he was appointed A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Organic Chemistry, a position he held until 1997. Dr. Taylor serves on several journal editorial boards and edits three series of volumes on heterocyclic and organic chemistry. He produced a 24-hour film and audio course on Principles of Heterocyclic Chemistry, which he followed by an extensive lecture course aimed at industrial research laboratories on Utilization of Heterocycles in Organic Synthesis. Among his honors are Fulbright, Guggenheim and Alexander von Humboldt awards, multiple awards from the American Chemical Society, and fellowships with the American Institute of Chemists, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the AAAS.

INVENTOR OF THE YEAR

Michael Seul
Light-controlled Electrokinetic Assembly
​of Particles near Surfaces
Dr Seul served as Chief Executive Officer of BioArray Solutions, a molecular diagnostics company he established in 1996 to develop and commercialize a proprietary (“BeadChip”) technology for rapid biomolecular analysis that combines microparticle chemistry, semiconductor physics and image analysis. BioArray Solutions’ BeadChip products and systems for molecular immunohematology are in routine use for the rapid pre-transfusion characterization of recipients and donors of blood transfusions at leading hospitals and donor centers in the US and overseas. Following BioArray Solutions’ acquisition, in Aug 2008, by Immucor (NASDAQ BLUD), Dr Seul servd as Vice President and General Manager; he currently is a strategic advisor to Immucor’s CEO. Prior to founding BioArray Solutions, Dr Seul, over a 10 year period at AT&T Bell Laboratories, established an internationally recognized research program with a focus on the physical chemistry of interfaces, membranes and colloidal systems. As an inventor, Dr Seul is listed on several dozen patents and patent applications including those covering BioArray Solutions’ core technology. In addition to publishing widely, including two cover articles in Science, he co-authored a successful book on “Practical Algorithms for Image Analysis” (2nd edition, Cambridge University Press). Dr Seul received his PhD in Biophysics from Stanford University. 
Christos Christodoulatos, Xiaoguang Meng, 
George Korfiatis,  Mazakhir Dadachov
Methods of Preparing a Surface-Activated 
​Titanium Oxide Product for use in Water  Treatment ​
Dr. Christodoulatos is Associate Provost for Academic Entrepreneurship and Director of the Center for Environmental Systems at Stevens Institute of Technology. Recipient of five patents in water and air treatment technology and author of over 80 scholarly articles, he also leads the implementation of an entrepreneurial culture at SIT and promotes the commercialization of the Institute’s patents and proprietary technologies. Dr. Christodoulatos has been teaching and performing research in environmental engineering for the last sixteen years in biological and physicochemical processes for environmental control. He has managed and executed over 65 research projects and serves as a consultant to government and private organizations. Dr. Christodoulatos received the Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from SIT. 

Dr. Xiaoguang Meng is associate professor at the Center for Environmental Systems at Stevens Institute of Technology. He focuses his research on environmental surface chemistry, creation of metal oxide-based adsorbents, and development of processes for treatment of arsenic and heavy metals. He has published 56 papers in peer-reviewed journals, obtained six U.S. patents, co-edited Advances in Arsenic Research (2004), and managed over 25 research projects with funding of more than $6.5 million. Dr. Meng developed a household filtration process and successfully demonstrated it with 700 families in Bangladesh between 1999 and 2005. He and his co-workers developed a nanocrystalline titanium dioxide adsorbent that was patented in 2005 and is used in commercial filters for treatment of heavy metals. Dr. Meng received the Ph.D. in civil engineering from Syracuse University after training in chemistry at Shandong College of Oceanography, China. 

Dr. Korfiatis and his co-workers have developed technology for the removal of arsenic and other harmful contaminants and heavy metals from drinking water. This technology has formed the basis for Hydroglobe Corporation, a company he co-founded in 2000, since acquired by Graver Technologies. His research in ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure-diffused plasmas led to a technology to destroy trace contaminants, spores, and microbes. Dr. Korfiatis and his co-workers commercialized it in 1999 by starting PlasmaSol Corporation, which Stryker Corporation bought for the sterilization of medical instruments and orthopedic implants. Dr. Korfiatis is Provost and University Vice President at Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT). He has been a leader in environmental research and technology development and has made many seminal contributions in engineering education, research, and the innovation of engineering research. He holds nine U.S. patents and over 110 technical publications, whose utility has been recognized by more than $23 million in funding. He received the Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Rutgers University. 

​During his appointment at Stevens Institute of Technology Dr. Dadachov with his coworkers developed a titanium dioxide-based adsorbent to remove metals from contaminated water, for which he is named on five patents. He obtained his M.S. in geochemistry and Ph.D. in crystallography and crystal chemistry from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1986 followed by successful academic and research work in Russia, Australia, Sweden, and the U.S.A. The major areas of Dr. Dadachov’s expertise extend into microporous and mesoporous materials, adsorbents and catalysts with particular emphasis on new crystalline materials, and X-ray diffraction analysis of materials. He has written or co-authored more than 60 articles for peer-reviewed journals including Nature. In 2004 Dr. Dadachov founded Corpuscular Inc., a nanotechnology manufacturing company with more than 2,000 products sold worldwide, where he currently serves as president and CEO. 

Innovators Award 

Kamalesh Sirkar
Membrane Separation Technologies
After teaching at India Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and Stevens Institute of Technology, Dr. Sirkar joined New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1992. As Distinguished Professor at NJIT as well as the Foundation Professor in Membrane Separations, his main research is in membranes and novel membrane-based separation techniques. Author of 24 U.S. Patents, 181 research publications, and 18 book chapters, Dr. Sirkar is the inventor of the membrane-based solvent extraction technology for which Hoechst Celanese Inc. received Honorable Mention in the 1991 Kirkpatrick Award. He also invented the hollow-fiber contained-liquid membrane technology.

In recognition of Dr. Sirkar’s accomplishments, Stevens Institute awarded him an honorary M. Eng. in 1987, NJIT honored him with the Harlan J. Perlis Award for Research in 1997, IIChE made him an Honorary Fellow in 2001, and the AAAS elected him a Fellow in 2008. He served on the Board of Directors of the North American Membrane Society during 1996-2001, where the board elected him President for 1998- 99. He was a Director of the Separations Division of AIChE in 1994-96 and received AIChE’s 2005 Institute award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology and in received the 2008 Clarence Gerhold award from AIChE Separations Division.

Dr. Sirkar has served on the editorial boards of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Journal of Membrane Science, and Separation Science and Technology. With W. S. Winston Ho he co-edited the Membrane Handbook, which won the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for the Most Outstanding Engineering Work in 1992. Dr. Sirkar received the Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana in 1969. 
​Raziq Yaqub
​Wireless Communications 
Dr. Raziq Yaqub is Senior Systems Engineer and Industry Standards Expert in the Advanced Telecommunications Systems division at Telcordia Technologies. He is actively involved in the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) project where his major responsibilities are development of industry requirements and technical specifications for priority service in 4G networks. Recipient of thirteen U.S. Patents in wireless communications, Dr. Yaqub helped chart the course of wireless communications technology as Research Director and Executive Director of Toshiba America Research (TARI) from 2001 to 2009. There his responsibilities included WiMAX market strategy, business unit strategic planning, and patent analysis. Several of his patents have already become part of technical specifications that will generate substantial revenues and royalties for Toshiba when the 4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution) technologies are commercially deployed.

During Dr. Yaqub’s tenure at TARI, Toshiba Corporation charged him with policy making and setting alliances for the IEEE 802.11n project, for which he received a Corporate Award. Dr. Yaqub expedited the research and reduced costs by establishing relationships with universities, negotiating with business development executives, assessing patents for commercialization, and securing funds through biannual reports. Yaqub also established a coalition of Toshiba Social Infrastructure Co. and Nortel for the joint development of WiMAX base stations. He remained a founder and principal member of the TARI Patent Evaluation and Review Board where he evaluated numerous U.S. or foreign patent disclosures; and a member of the Patents Analysis, Mapping and Commercialization Committee, where he collaborated with third parties and Toshiba Corporation’s IP Division on the analysis and innovation of TARI’s Patents. Dr. Yaqub has published numerous papers in international proceedings; delivered tutorials in international conferences and workshops; served as working group chairman of Mobile Wireless Internet Forum, and contributed to the efforts of several standards bodies including 3GPP, WiMAX, OMA, and IEEE. Dr. Yaqub earned the Ph.D. in Wireless Communication from Keio University, Japan, and an MBA in Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. 
Effat Emamian,  Ali Abdi
Novel Cross-disciplinary Engineering-Biology Invention 

After completing her M.D. from Tehran University in 1997 with honors and her postdoctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota and Rockefeller University, Dr. Emamian in 2008 founded a biotechnology company, Advanced Technologies for Novel Therapeutics. ATNT uses cross-disciplinary engineering techniques to find the most effective molecular targets for treatment of complex human disorders. She has received the NARSAD Young Investigator Award and Lieber Investigator Award in 2004, the Young Investigator Award of the 2007 International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, and the 2007 NARSAD Young Investigator Award. In 2008 Dr. Emamian was invited to present a talk as one of the 10 exceptionally gifted NARSAD Young Investigators in the 20th annual session of New York Mental Health Research Symposium

​Dr. Abdi is Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). His current research interests include systems biology, molecular networks, digital communication, and propagation modeling in underwater channels. Dr. Abdi is a Senior Member of IEEE, and was an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. He received the 2006 NJIT Excellence in Teaching Award, in the category of Excellence in Team, Interdepartmental, Multidisciplinary, or Non-Traditional Teaching. He received both the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame Innovators Award in 2008 and the IEEE Region 1 Award in 2009, for his work on underwater communication. Dr. Abdi received the Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Corporate Award

Hoffman La Roche, Inc.
Innovations in Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (Roche), based in Nutley, N.J., is a member of the Roche Group, one of the world’s leading research-oriented healthcare groups with core businesses in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. For more than 100 years, Roche has been committed to fulfilling unmet medical needs. In 2005, the company celebrated its U.S. Centennial, reflecting back on its early roots in New York City and the move to the current location in Nutley in 1929. Since opening the doors of the Manhattan office, Roche has built a legacy of innovation in the U.S., decade by decade, discovery by discovery. We have had many milestones to be proud of and our outstanding people have been responsible for a number of industry innovations, many of them developed in Nutley. Over the last century, our New Jersey-based scientists were awarded hundreds of U.S. patents, reinforcing our innovation strategy that has shaped the organization and helped to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of millions of patients throughout the world.

Looking to the future, Roche continues to focus on developing new, innovative and clinically differentiated medicines. To maintain our innovative focus, the 127-acre site is expanding its research base and will become one of the largest R&D centers for Roche. The site hosts scientists conducting research in oncology, inflammation and metabolic diseases as well as the emerging area of RNA interference, a revolution in biology, which represents a breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells. For more than a century, Roche has followed the path of innovation wherever it leads. From scientific discovery to a patient’s recovery, we are committed to saving and improving lives. For more information on Roche in NJ, visit www.rocheusa.com. ​
Immunomedics, Inc
​Development of Monoclonal Antibodies
​Immunomedics is a leading bio-pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving patients’ health and quality of life by focusing on developing proprietary monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of diseases with unmet medical needs. Protected by 139 active patents in the United States and more than 300 worldwide, Immunomedics has built a portfolio of antibodies that potentially covers more than 90% of all cancers, as well as related technologies for making novel multi-functional antibodies, radio-labeled antibodies, and drug-conjugated antibodies for use in not only cancer therapy, but also treatment of infectious diseases (e.g., AIDS) and autoimmune diseases. Additionally, two of the Company’s lead antibody product candidates, epratuzumab and veltuzumab, have been licensed to multinational bio-pharmaceutical companies for further development in non-cancer indications.

Immunomedics has two potential first-in-class antibodies in the clinic: milatuzumab to be used against lymphoma and myeloma and clivatuzumab for advanced pancreatic cancer. Recently, with its newly patented Dock-and-Lock platform technology for protein engineering, Immunomedics has broadened its research and development activities beyond monoclonal antibodies to include cytokines and potentially vaccines. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.immunomedics.com. 

Advancement of invention award

Gil Zweig High         
resolution Low  -  dose Magnifying Fluoroscope and System
Gil Zweig received his BA, BME, MS (Engineering Physics) at New York University. He is President and Founder of Glenbrook Technologies. Glenbrook Technologies was founded in 1983 and has become a world leading innovator of real-time x-ray inspection technology for the electronics, security and medical device industries. Prior to founding Glenbrook Technologies Mr. Zweig was Vice President of MCI Optonix the US X-ray Screen Division of Mitsubishi Chemical Industries. As a past member of the ANSI IT2- 31 subcommittee, Mr. Zweig helped establish national standards for medical x-ray screen-film systems (Now NAPM IT2-31). Mr. Zweig holds 15 patents and numerous publications in the fields of non-silver and x-ray imaging technology. He is presently President of the Board of Directors of the County College of Morris Foundation.

Trustees Award​

Rush Holt
Representative Rush Holt, Ph.D., a former physics professor who for nearly a decade served as Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, spent much of his career on inventive and innovative activities and programs.

In Congress Holt is co-chair of the Research and Development Caucus, and sits on several Congressional caucuses including Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, and Biomedical Research. His patent on a control mechanism for a solar pond energy device punctuates his desire to increase alternative and sustainable energy research to fulfill the energy needs of the United States.

Rep. Holt started and facilitates the Einstein Alley initiative which endeavors to attract and support innovative companies in central New Jersey. He has helped secure more than $700 million in new federal funding for science and technology research.

An issue in which Holt has also taken a lead is mathematics and science education. He served on the former Senator and astronaut John Glenn’s National Commission on Mathematics & Science Teaching for the 21st Century. Holt also helped establish the Mathematics & Science Scholars Program, which provides grants and loan forgiveness to students who commit to five consecutive years of service in a math or science field after graduation.

​Among his numerous citations are the Biotech Legislator of theYear, and the Science Coalition’s Champion of Science” award. Scientific American has named Holt one of the 50 national visionaries of a brighter technological future. 

SPECIAL AWARD

Michael Flowers          
Foldable Personal Mobility Vehicle
Michael Flowers received his B.A. in English from Rutgers College in 1976, he began running the family-owned Pedalpower Electric Bicycle Division of General Engines Company. As general manager, he expanded sales of the patented electric bike motor from $50,000 to $3 million annually by 1980 through mail-order marketing in national magazines.

Since spinning off as Electric Mobility Corporation (EMC) in 1982, Flowers and his family have innovated new products to improve the mobility of the elderly. That year he and his father developed the Rascal, which gave disabled customers an indoor and outdoor electric vehicle. The Rascal was the first scooter with a maintenance-free direct differential drive system, spring suspension, and a take-apart frame for storage. In 1990, Flowers received the first of his three patents, for the Rascal ® ConvertAble ®, the industry’s first personal electric vehicle for outdoor use and electric wheelchair for indoor use. EMC manufactures and markets the Rascal ® ConvertAble ® as a 3- or 4-wheel mobility system.

Together with his engineers Flowers invented the Rascal AutoGo, a folding electric travel scooter, in 2002, which EMC also makes and markets. Users store or transport it without bending, stooping, or lifting any parts because the vehicle pushes itself together into a compact folded form.

Mr. Flowers has filed three more patents in the last two years. He is principal and chairman of EMC and its subsidiaries in Canada and Europe.

graduate student award

Chuan-Bi Lin          
Internet Switch Technologies
Chuan-Bi Lin received the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2008 after completing an M.S.E.E. at the University of Bridgeport and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Tatung Institute of Technology in Taiwan. His research for his thesis on “Design and Analysis of Scalable Scheduling Schemes for High-Speed Input-Queued Packet Switches” also resulted in two patent disclosures and one patent application for “Module Matching Schemes for Input-Queued Clos-Network Switches,” filed in 2007. Dr. Lin also received the NJIT-ECE PhoneTel Scholarship Award for Outstanding Performance in Ph.D. Research in 2008. 
Ziqian Dong        
Network Switch Architecture 
​Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong received her B.S. degree in the Electrical Engineering from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China in 1999. She received the M.S. in Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2002, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from NJIT in 2008 along with the Hashimoto Prize. Dr. Dong joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Stevens Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral researcher, where her research interests include architecture design and analysis of practical buffered crossbar packet switches, network security, and Internet forensics. 
Dipshikha Biswas          
HIV Protease Inhibitors for Treatment of AIDS
​Dipshikha Biswas received the M.S. and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Stevens Institute of Technology. Working with her advisor on her thesis led to the design and synthesis of a novel class of HIV protease inhibitor. The intended use of these compounds will be for the treatment of effects of the AIDS virus, which has potentially enormous implications for healthcare around the world. She received her M.Sc. in Physical Chemistry from Assam University, Silchar, India. Dr. Biswas works with the Schering Plough Research Institute (SPRI) as a Medicinal Chemist and has three publications in Tetrahedron Letters.

2009 AWARD BANQUET PROGRAM

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