This year’s Lemelson-MIT Prize, which rewards inventors who improve the world through technological invention, has gone to pioneering nanotech scientist Angela Belcher. Dr. Belcher was inspired during her graduate work by the abalone, which is able to manufacture an incredibly hard shell by directing the organization of inorganic materials using its biological machinery. Following her studies on how the abalone accomplishes this process, she realized that other organisms and biological materials could be “evolved” to manufacture components for electronics and solar cells. Based on these inventions, Dr. Belcher has co-founded two companies, Cambrios Technologies (involved in producing transparent coatings and electronics) and Siluria Technologies (relating to nanowire catalysts that convert natural gas to plastics, fuel, and chemicals). She intends to use some of the Lemelson-MIT Prize funds on programs designed to get children more interested in science and technology at an early age. She is named as an inventor on a number of US patents.
Related Insights
23 January 2025
Innovative Technology Insights
New York’s Proposed Health Information Privacy Act Takes Aim at Digital Health Companies
The New York Health Information Privacy Act (NYHIPA), if enacted, could create a chilling effect on patient access and engagement to readily available digital health care services relied upon by New Yorkers.
23 January 2025
Foley Viewpoints
Five Compliance Best Practices for … CTPAT Compliance Requirements
As an accompaniment to our biweekly series on "What Every Multinational Company Should Know About" various international trade, enforcement, and compliance topics, this is an update to our series on compliance checks that every multinational company should consider.
23 January 2025
Manufacturing Industry Advisor
What Every Multinational Company Should Know About … Managing Import Risks Under the New Trump Administration (Part II): The Implications of President Trump’s “America First Trade Memorandum”
During his campaign, President Trump often stated that he would be implementing an “America First” international trade policy, which he said explicitly would include higher tariffs, potentially on imports from the entire world.