2009 Inductees Celebrate Integrated Circuit Technology
John Doll, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, welcomes the 2009 Inductees attending the February 11th announcement. Top row, left to right, John Macdougall, John Doll, Larry Hornbeck, George Heilmeier. Seated, left to right, Dov Frohman-Bentchkowsky, Alfred Cho, Ken Manchester.
This year, the National Inventors Hall of Fame is honoring the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit as it celebrates the milestone patents filed by Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby in 1959. As a result, this year’s class of new Inductees represents advances related to or enabled by integrated circuit technology. All have made contributions to the evolution of the electronics era and helped to make our modern way of life possible.
On February 11th, the Hall of Fame announced the names of the 2009 Inductees on Capitol Hill at an event hosted by Congresswoman Betty Sutton (OH-13), Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-17), and Acting Under Secretary of Commerce, United States Patent and Trademark Office, John Doll. Included on the list of names is: Jean Hoerni, who developed the process still used today to manufacture modern integrated circuits; Gordon Moore, Intel co-founder well-known as the author of Moore’s Law; and Carver Mead, who has conducted pioneering work in microelectronics.
The Gala Induction Ceremony will be held on May 2nd, 2009 at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, where the following 15 extraordinary inventors will be formally inducted:
Honored Inductees
Martin (John) Atalla — MOS transistor
Alfred Cho - Molecular beam epitaxy — MBE
Dov Frohman-Bentchkowsky — EPROM
George Heilmeier — Liquid crystal display
Larry Hornbeck — Digital micromirror device
John Macdougall and Ken Manchester — Ion implantation
Carver Mead — VLSI method for designing chips
Gordon Moore — Semiconductor production
Frank Wanlass — Complementary metal oxide semiconductor — CMOS
Posthumously Honored Inductees
Ross Freeman (1948-1989) — Field programmable gate array—FPGA
Jean Hoerni (1924-1997) — Planar process
Dawon Kahng (1931-1992) — MOS transistor
Gordon Teal (1907-2003) — Silicon transistors
Robert Widlar (1937-1991) — Linear integrated circuits
More detailed information on all the inductees can be found at www.invent.org/2009induction.
Induction Sponsorship Information
The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation is pleased to offer sponsorship opportunities for the 2009 Induction Ceremony. Please click here for sponsorship levels, benefits, and a reply form. In addition to providing publicity on a local and national scale, the Induction Ceremony provides the chance to interact with Inductees, United States Patent and Trademark Office officials, and business and civic leaders. Confirmed sponsors to date include:
In partnership with:
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Presenting Sponsor:
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Innovation Sponsors:
Accenture
Intellectual Ventures
Dinner Sponsors:
Foley & Lardner, LLP
Thomas Fogarty Winery and Vineyard
Morrison & Foerster, LLP
Xilinx
Supporting Sponsors:
Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP
Continental Airlines
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
The J.M. Smucker Company
The Timken Company
Additional Sponsors:
AIPLA
Corning, Inc.
A New Summer of Fun Awaits at Camp Invention
The entire team at Camp Invention is ready for another exciting summer! Continued efforts to bring the best programming each year has led to the creation of new curricula and challenges that participants have never seen before.
This summer, children will learn about DNA and flight, as well as test their strength and reaction time in the Comic Book Science: FlyJack and Jill™ module. Then, they’ll test their navigational skills in the Viking Treasure Trek: The Quest Begins™ module, where they will be challenged with solving puzzles, decrypting messages, and building boats to hold cargo.
Last, but certainly not least, children will experience the I Can Invent: Fantasy Inventions & Complicated Machines II™ module like never before. Younger children will continue to explore what they can build and create to help them with every day challenges, while older children will break a rotten egg into a frying pan using simple machines and recycled materials.
The curricula combined with a week of children playing and learning with their friends while unlocking their innate creativity, critical-thinking, and problem solving skills makes this year one that won’t be forgotten, and will continue to impact participants well after the week is complete. For information on Camp Invention locations near you visit www.campinvention.org.
National Inventors Hall of Fame at the USPTO Museum
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the opening of the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the museum of its Alexandria, VA, campus. The opening is being celebrated with a new Inductee exhibit, Inventive Links, which was inspired, in part, by the James Burke television series “Connections” and illustrates the surprising ways in which modern inventions and innovations inform and inspire each other. The exhibit is designed so the visitor will follow multiple paths linking the innovations of National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees to one another. The links that connect these inventors are drawn from the Inductee inventions: the patents and trademarks they hold and the interconnecting events and circumstances of their lives.
Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO John Doll commented, “The journey to induction begins here with a patent, so it is only appropriate that those innovators who have truly transformed our lives should be honored at our headquarters.” In addition to Inventive Links, the Museum features an interactive kiosk with biographical profiles and information on all 390 Inductees. Click here for more information.
Nominees Sought for National Medal of Technology and Innovation
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking nominations for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI). The USPTO administers the NMTI program on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce. The deadline for nominations is May 29, 2009.
 The nominations can be made for an individual, a team of up to four individuals, a company or a division of a company. The honorees are chosen for their outstanding contributions to the nation’s economic, environmental and social well-being through the development and commercialization of technological products, processes and concepts; technological innovation; and development of the country’s technological manpower. National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees who have received this Medal in recent years include Paul Baran, James West, Robert Metcalfe and Nick Holonyak, Jr.
Click here to learn more about nomination guidelines and to submit a nomination.
Inductee News
 On February 17, Robert Dennard received the 2009 Charles Stark Draper Prize. Dennard was recognized for his invention and contributions to the development of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), used universally in computers and other data processing and communication systems. In addition, he and his IBM colleagues developed the scaling theory for miniaturizing MOS transistors. Dennard’s work has enabled tremendous growth in computing, and has also allowed computing to become a part of everyday life in all forms of consumer devices. A 1997 Inductee, Dennard is currently an IBM Fellow at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center.
 In May, Inductee Robert Gallo will receive the 2009 Dan David Prize. The Prize is awarded to three recipients annually, and Gallo will be recognized for his work in the field of global public health. Gallo, the director of the Institute of Human Virology in Baltimore, worked to determine that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was the cause of AIDS and also helped to develop a laboratory test to detect HIV. He also has made discoveries that led to diagnostic and therapeutic advances in cancer and several viral diseases. Gallo and French researcher Luc Montagnier were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004 for their work.
If you have Inductee news you would like included in the next e-newsletter, please email media@invent.org.
In Memory: Willem Kolff, 1911 - 2009
The Hall of Fame was recently saddened by the death of Inductee Willem Kolff, inventor of the kidney dialysis machine and designer of the first successful artificial heart.
Kolff, 97, created his original dialysis machine during World War II in his native Holland. When he arrived in the United States, he spent a number of years at the Cleveland Clinic before moving to the University of Utah, from which he ultimately retired. Throughout his career, he was widely respected for his pioneering work with artificial organs and his passion for innovating. Kolff is survived by his five children, 12 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
Make a gift online today!
We are pleased to announce a new, secure means of making a gift to the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation online! Please click here to make an online donation. If you have questions or would like to make a gift via phone or mail, please contact:
Hannah Paulin
Director of Development
National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation
221 South Broadway Street
Akron, OH 44308
330.849.6874; hpaulin@invent.org
Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Thank you for your continued interest in the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation.
Thank you, Sponsors
Thank you to the following 2009 Camp Invention and Club Invention sponsors who have confirmed major support for the Camp Invention summer program and Club Invention afterschool program:
United States Patent and Trademark Office
3M Foundation
Carrier Corporation
GAR Foundation
II-VI Corporation
L’Oreal USA
The Burton D. Morgan Foundation
Nordson Corporation Foundation
Rohm and Haas Company
For a complete list of sponsors please click here. |
