Purdue Research Foundation Honors Faculty and Staff Inventors

Business Wire, Oct 28, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Purdue Research Foundation honored 44 Purdue University faculty and staff at its annual Inventors' Recognition Dinner for their contributions to research, development and commercialization of new discoveries.

"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, the 2008 Outstanding Commercialization Award, went to Stephen R. Byrn, Charles B. Jordan Professor of Medicinal Chemistry; head, Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences; co-founder of SSCI (Solid State Chemical Information), an Aptuit company that is based 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, 31 issued patents submitted by 44 Purdue faculty researchers and the creation of 10 new companies formed from Purdue-licensed technologies.

The complete list of faculty and staff researchers recognized at the dinner can be found at http://www.prf.org/patents.> The Purdue Research Park, which is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, encompasses 725 acres in West Lafayette, Ind., and is home to the largest university-affiliated business incubator complex in the nation. Within the park, 157 businesses, of which about 100 are high-tech, employ more than 3,000 people.

Previous recipients of the Outstanding Commercialization Award include Phillip Low, the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Fred Regnier, the John H. Law Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Leslie A. Geddes, the Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering; Alok Chaturvedi, professor in the Krannert Graduate School of Management and the Department of Computer Sciences; and R. Graham Cooks, the Henry B. Hass Distinguished Professor in the College of Science.

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