MU Inventors, Entrepreneurs Honored at Recognition Event
In fiscal year 2014, entrepreneurs and inventors at MU generated 35 patents, 18 technology licenses
May 1st, 2015
COLUMBIA, Mo. — More than 100 inventors from the University of Missouri were honored Thursday, April 30, at the 2015 Innovation & Entrepreneurial Recognition event. MU officials, including Garnett Stokes, provost; Steve Wyatt, associate vice chancellor and vice provost for economic development; and Hank Foley, senior vice chancellor for research and graduate studies at MU and executive vice president for academic affairs, research and economic development for the UM System, recognized award recipients.
“Economic development became the fourth mission of the University of Missouri — along with teaching, research and service — in 2004,” Stokes said. “As a university, we are focused on building strategic collaborations with businesses for the purpose of growing research and service contracts. We want to enhance internships and experiential learning opportunities and be able to offer exceptional job placements.”
In FY 2014, 35 U.S. patents were issued to members of the MU community who invented new devices or discovered innovative methods through their research.
“Advancing the scope of human intelligence across various disciplines, the achievements of these innovators and entrepreneurs are truly at the forefront of human enterprise,” Wyatt said. “At our event, we honored several MU inventors for their contributions to their fields and our global community; we’re very proud of the accomplishments they have made in the laboratory and how they have worked to spread that knowledge to the rest of society.”
The 2015 UM System President’s Student Entrepreneurial Award, which includes a $2,500 prize, was awarded to Dustin Stanton, a December 2014 graduate in agribusiness management at MU. Stanton used his agriculture knowledge to create Stanton Brothers Eggs, the nation’s largest independent, free-range egg operation that boasts more than 20,000 laying hens. The 2015 UM System President’s Economic Development Award, which includes a $5,000 prize, was awarded to David Patterson, a professor of animal science. Based on his research, Patterson developed the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program and works with regional extension livestock specialists, herd owners and veterinarians to improve herd genetics.
The Mizzou Advantage Entrepreneurial Award was awarded to Chung-Ho Lin, a research assistant professor of forestry. Through a Mizzou Advantage-funded interdisciplinary project, Lin discovered that the Eastern red cedar tree contains compounds that can fight MRSA, a flesh-eating bacteria that plagues hospitals.
During the event, 10 MU inventors were inducted as founding members into the Mizzou Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Election into the NAI is a distinction given to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.
“These individuals, all of whom are members of our faculty, have made outstanding and innovative contributions to many fields,” Wyatt said. “These individuals help enhance the visibility of university and non-profit innovation while mentoring the next generation of inventors when they interact with undergraduate and graduate students.”
Founding members of the NAI Mizzou Chapter are:
- James Birchler, Curators Professor of Biological Sciences; NAI fellow
- Hank Foley, senior vice chancellor for research and graduate studies at MU and executive vice president for academic affairs, research and economic development for the UM System; NAI fellow
- Shubhra Gangopadhyay, C.W. LaPierre Endowed Chair Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
- Sheila Grant, professor of biological engineering
- M. Frederick Hawthorne, director of the International Institute of Nano and Molecular Medicine at MU
- Kattesh Katti, Distinguished Professor of Radiology and Physics; NAI fellow
- R. Bowen Loftin, chancellor; NAI fellow
- Randall Prather, Curators Professor of Animal Sciences
- R. Michael Roberts, Curators Professor of Animal Sciences
- Peter Sutovsky, professor of reproductive physiology