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INL honors 86 inventors at the Annual Honors Banquet

INL added four more inventors to the “Hall of Fame” for a total of 52 inventors honored who have amassed nearly 350 inventions and received $330,000 in recognition as part of their lifetime achievement awards.

On Dec. 7 in Idaho Falls, 86 INL inventors were recognized for earning 40 patents during the 12th Annual Honors Banquet, which was held by the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory.

Five inventors were honored for a lifetime of achievement for generating five or more patents during their careers. Dennis Bingham was recognized for generating 15 patents, while four other inventors accepted awards for generating five patents, the first plateau recognized in INL's Hall of Fame honorary society.

Both INL's Inventor and Technician of the Year were announced at the banquet. William Apel was selected as INL's Inventor of the Year and said, "I consider this award to be a great honor, particularly in light of the very talented field of inventors competing this year. I am very grateful for this recognition" Chosen as the Technician of the Year, Christine White said, "I am honored to have been selected from such a diverse and highly qualified field of nominees."

The winners of the Laboratory Director's Awards for Exceptional Achievement in engineering, science and early career achievement also were named including Stephen Herring for exceptional engineering achievement, Frederick Stewart for exceptional scientific achievement, Phillip Sharpe for early career exceptional achievement, and Helen Farrell for individual lifetime achievement in science and technology.

Rewarding creative and cumulative performance, INL is the only national laboratory to recognize lifetime achievements for inventors who accrue 5, 10, 15 and 20 U.S. patented inventions. Established in 2002, the INL "Hall of Fame" provides public recognition and monetary awards based on levels of creativity. So far, five inventors have been recognized for being named on at least 15 U.S. patents, six inventors for having at least 10 U.S. Patents and 42 for at least five patents.

To date, INL has inducted 52 inventors into the "Hall of Fame" who have amassed nearly 350 inventions and received $330,000 in recognition as part of their lifetime achievement awards. These special awards are funded from licensing agreements that provide royalty income to the laboratory. Efforts to advance technologies created at INL and license them continue to pay dividends for the inventors and the national laboratory.

Dennis Bingham's work has focused on liquefying and pressurizing gas technologies. Those inventors achieving five patents include:

• Reva Nickelson, for subsurface material management and containment technologies and barrier development,
• Thomas Ward, for biomass research using microorganisms and organic processes,
• Matthew O. Anderson, for instrumentation and control systems, including robotic systems and unmanned aerial vehicles,
• Paul Sloan, for innovative technologies in waste management.

Finalists for INL's Inventor of the Year included William Apel, Dennis Bingham, Michael McKellar, Jill Scott and Terry Turner. Finalists in the competition for INL's Technician of the Year included Christine White, Randy Bewley, Chris Morgan, Steve Russell and Tony Watson.

Among the 40 patents recognized this year, several addressed environmental challenges with new technologies, processes and materials in energy research, national security, nuclear medicine, nano-materials, improved battery composites, plus science and industrial processing.

Patents issued to INL represent the laboratory's continuing success in applying scientific solutions to meet the grand challenges of industry and government. The patents also have exceptional potential for domestic and international application in health, manufacturing, environmental cleanup, national security, nuclear and fossil-fuel energy systems, renewable energy systems, and many other areas.

Idaho National Laboratory is one of the Department of Energy's 10 multi-program national laboratories. The laboratory performs work in each of the strategic goal areas of DOE - energy, national security, science and environment. Specifically, INL is the nation's leading center of nuclear energy research and development. Day-to-day management and operation of the laboratory is the responsibility of Battelle Energy Alliance.

Chosen as INL's Technician of the Year, Christine White, center, receives her award from INL Laboratory Director John Grossenbacher, left. Joy Rempe, second from left, and Blair Briggs, right, nominated White for her outstanding support in technical information production. White said, "I am honored to have been selected from such a diverse and highly qualified field of nominees."

Dennis Bingham was elevated within INL's Hall of Fame for creating 15 patented inventions. The honorary society recognizes INL inventors for achieving five, ten, fifteen and twenty patents.

Stephen Herring, right, receives from INL Laboratory Director John Grossenbacher an award for exceptional achievement in engineering for his hydrogen and co-electrolysis research.

William Apel, right, receives congratulations from INL Laboratory Director John Grossenbacher for his selection as INL’s Inventor of the Year in 2007. Apel said, “I consider this award to be a great honor, particularly in light of the very talented field of inventors competing this year. I am very grateful for this recognition”

INL Laboratory Director John Grossenbacher, left, poses with finalists for INL’s Inventor of the Year in 2007. They are Dennis Bingham, Michael McKellar, Terry Turner, Jill Scott, and William Apel. Apel was selected as the Inventor of the Year for 2007.

Discussing her 40 years of basic scientific research, Helen Farrell meets the media prior to the INL Honors Banquet on Dec. 7 at the Shilo Inn Convention Center. At the dinner, Farrell received the Laboratory Director’s Awards for Exceptional Individual Achievement in Science and Technology.