The IRI Achievement Award, established by the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) in 1973, is awarded "to honor outstanding accomplishment in individual creativity and innovation that contributes broadly to the development of industry and to the benefit of society."IRI Achievement Award Page, accessed Feb. 9, 2012. The recipient is first nominated by an IRI member organization for his or her invention, innovation, or process improvement, and then voted on by a nine-member Awards Committee, led by the immediate past-chairman of IRI's Board of Directors.IRI Constitution and Bylaws, accessed Feb. 9, 2012.
The bronze sculpture known as the IRI Achievement Award represents the flight of innovation. The artist who designed the sculpture is John Blair. This award is presented each spring during IRI's Annual Meeting and is one of the highest honors awarded by the organization.
List of Recipients
Year Recipient Achievement1974William F. Gresham (DuPont)Instant Color Film1975William G. Pfann (Bell Labs)Ultra-High Purity Materials1976Maurice R. Hilleman (Merck)Vaccines1977LeGrand Van Uitert (Bell Labs)Electronic Materials1978Robert H. Wentorf, Jr. (General Electric)"GE Diamond Pioneer Robert Wentorf Dies" , PRNewswire, April 7, 1997, accessed Feb. 9, 2012.Synthetic Diamonds and Cubic Boron Nitride1979Frank B. Colton (G.D. Searle & Co.)Oral Contraceptives1980Stanley D. Stookey (Corning)Photochromic Glasses1981Andrew H. Bobeck (Bell Labs)Bubble Memory1982Robert N. Noyce (Intel)Silicon Integrated Circuits1983Herbert W. Boyer (University of California)"2009 Honoree, Herbert W. Boyer, for Scientific Research" , Double Helix Medals, 2009, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.Recombinant DNA1984John W. Backus (IBM)FORTRAN1985Allan S. Hay (General Electric)Polymerization by Oxidative Coupling1986John E. Franz (Monsanto)Roundup1987Robert D. Maurer (Corning)Glass Fiber Wave Guides1988Howard G. Rogers (Polaroid)Polyolefins1989Alfred Y. Cho (Bell Labs)"Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs Luminary Alfred Y. Cho Awarded US National Medal of Technology", PRNewswire, June 14, 2005, accessed Feb. 9, 2012.Molecular Beam Epitaxy1990Robert H. Dennard (IBM)"Computer History Museum: People", entry: Dennard, Robert H., accessed Feb. 9, 2012.One-Transistor Dynamic Memory Cell1991Leonard S. Cutler (Hewlett-Packard)Cesium Atomic Beam Clock1992Victor Mills (Procter & Gamble)Synthetic Diamonds1993Richard H. Frenkiel (Bell Labs), accessed Feb. 9, 2012.Cellular Telephones1994Marvin M. Johnson (Phillips Petroleum)Passivating Agents for Catalytic Cracking1995Marinus Los (American Cyanamid)"American Cyanamid Inventor Honored for Herbicide Discovery", PRNewswire, Sept. 3, 1999, accessed Feb. 9, 2012.Imidazolinone Herbicides1996Andrzej M. Pawlak (General Motors), accessed Feb. 9, 2012.Electromechanical Devices1997Stephanie Kwolek (DuPont)Liquid Crystal Polymers (Kevlar)1998Simon F. Campbell (Pfizer)Simon F. Campbell, BusinessWeek Bio, accessed Feb. 9, 2012Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery1999James E. West (Bell Labs/Lucent)"James E. West Receives IRI's 1998 Achievement Award", Newswise, Oct. 27, 1998, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.Foil Electret Microphone2000Harry W. Coover (Eastman Chemical)"Inventor of the Week: Archive", Lemelson – MIT School of Engineering, September 2004, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.Cyanoacrylate Adhesives2001C. Donald Bateman (Honeywell)GPWS and Enhanced GPWS2002George Beall (Corning)Beall, George H. "Exploratory research remains essential for industry; the development of landmark new products is almost always dependent on knowledge gleaned from previous exploratory research. (IRI Achievement Award Address)", Research-Technology Management, Vol. 45, No. 6 (November–December 2002).Breakthrough Innovations of Glass2003Madan M. Bhasin (Dow Chemical)Innovative Catalytic Solutions, Ilc.: Awards and Honors, accessed Feb. 9, 2012.Industrial Catalysis & Emission Reductions2004Edith M. Flanigen (UOP)"Industrial Research Institute Achievement Award," Research-Technology Management, Vol. 48, No. 4 (July–August 2005).Molecular Sieve Technology2005Dennis M. Ritchie (Bell Labs/AT&T/Lucent)"Dennis Ritchie, Bell Labs Researcher and Co-Inventor of Unix, Receives 2005 Industrial Research Institute Achievement Award" , Alcatel/Lucent Press Release, Nov. 15, 2005, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.Unix Operating System2006Paul D. Trokhan (Procter & Gamble)Unique Density Paper Structures2007Rakesh Agrawal (Purdue University)"Agrawal Given IRI Achievement Award" Purdue University's School of Chemical Engineering, Nov. 6, 2007, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.Cryogenic Air Separation2008Dean L. Kamen (DEKA Research)"Dean Kamen Honored with IRI 2008 Achievement Award" , Industrial Research Institute Press Release, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.Technologies that enhance quality of life2009Ashok V. Joshi (Ceramatec)"Ceramatec's President to Receive 2009 IRI Achievement Award" Ceramatec News, Jan. 20, 2009, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.New applications in Ionic Membranes2010Linden S. Blue (General Atomics)"IRI Names New Chairman, Honors Aeronautical Innovator" , R&D Magazine, May 7, 2010, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.Military strategy, energy research, and 2nd Gen. Modular Helium Reactors (MHRs)2011Richard Hayes (DuPont)"DuPont Sweeps IRI's 2011 Industry Awards", R&D Magazine, May 27, 2011, accessed Feb. 8, 2012.Polyacetal resins, modified polyesters, infrared absorbers, and gas separation membranes2012John J. Curro (Procter & Gamble)Solid State Formation Technology2015Charles W. Hull (3D Systems)Stereolithography2018Tan Le (Emotiv)Electroencephalography
See also Industrial Research Institute Maurice Holland Award IRI Medal
References
External links Industrial Research Institute, Inc. (IRI)