Lemelson–MIT Prize

The Lemelson Foundation awards several prizes yearly to inventors in the United States. The largest is the Lemelson–MIT Prize which was endowed in 1994 by Jerome H. Lemelson, and is administered through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The winner receives $500,000, making it the largest cash prize for invention in the U.S.

From 1995 through 2006, the $100,000 Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award and the $30,000 Lemelson–MIT Student Prize were also presented along with the Lemelson–MIT prize. In 2007 the Lifetime Achievement award was replaced with the $100,000 Lemelson–MIT Award for Sustainability. In 2007 the Lemelson Foundation also introduced two additional $30,000 student prizes to be awarded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A student prize for the California Institute of Technology was added in 2009 and canceled in 2011.

List of winners

2015

• Carl Schoellhammer (Lemelson-MIT "Cure it!" Graduate Student Prize)
• Joshua Siegel (Lemelson-MIT "Drive it!" Graduate Student Prize)
• Alexander Richter (Lemelson-MIT "Eat it!" Graduate Student Prize)
• Stephen John and Joseph Barnett (Lemelson-MIT "Cure it!" Undergraduate Team Prize)
• Justin Keenan and Kevin Paroda (Lemelson-MIT "Use it!" Undergraduate Team Prize)
• Jay Whitacre^[1]

2014

• Sangeeta N. Bhatia (Lemelson-MIT Prize)
• David Sengeh (Lemelson-MIT "Cure it!" Graduate Student Prize)
• Benjamin Peters (Lemelson-MIT "Use it!" Graduate Student Prize)
• Tyler Ovington (Lemelson-MIT "Cure it!" Undergraduate Student Prize)
• Christopher Haid (Lemelson-MIT "Use it!" Undergraduate Student Prize)

2013

• Angela Belcher (Lemelson–MIT Prize)^[2]
• Rebecca Richards-Kortum and Maria Oden (Lemelson–MIT Award for Global Innovation)
• Nikolai Begg (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Ming Ma (Lemelson–MIT Rensselaer Student Prize)
• Eduardo Torrealba (Lemelson–MIT Illinois Student Prize)

2012

• Stephen Quake (Lemelson–MIT Prize)^[3]
• Ashok Gadgil (Lemelson–MIT Award for Global Innovation)
• Miles Barr (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Fazel Yavari (Lemelson–MIT Rensselaer Student Prize)
• Kevin Karsch (Lemelson–MIT Illinois Student Prize)

2011

• John A. Rogers (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Elizabeth Hausler (Lemelson–MIT Award for Sustainability)
• Alice Chen (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Benjamin Clough (Lemelson-MIT Rensselaer Student Prize)
• Scott Diagle (Lemelson–MIT Illinois Student Prize)
• Guoan Zheng (Lemelson–MIT CalTech Student Prize)

2010

• Carolyn Bertozzi (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• BP Agrawal (Lemelson–MIT Award for Sustainability)
• Erez Lieberman Aiden (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Kayvan Rafiee (Lemelson–MIT Rensselaer Student Prize)^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}
• Jonathan Naber (Lemelson–MIT Illinois Student Prize)
• Heather Agnew (Lemelson–MIT CalTech Student Prize)

2009

• Chad Mirkin (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Joel Selanikio (Lemelson–MIT Award for Sustainability)
• Geoffrey von Maltzahn (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Yuehua Yu (Lemelson–MIT Rensselaer Student Prize)
• John Wright (Lemelson–MIT Illinois Student Prize)
• Ophir Vermesh (Lemelson–MIT CalTech Student Prize)

2008

• Joseph DeSimone (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Martin Fisher (Lemelson–MIT Award for Sustainability)
• Timothy Lu (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Martin Schubert (Lemelson–MIT Rensselaer Student Prize)
• Patrick Walsh (Lemelson–MIT Illinois Student Prize)

2007

• Timothy Swager (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Lee Lynd (Lemelson–MIT Award for Sustainability)
• Nathan Ball (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Brian Schulkin (Lemelson–MIT Rensselaer Student Prize)
• Michael Callahan (Lemelson–MIT Illinois Student Prize)

2006

• James Fergason (Lemelson–MIT Prize) for his liquid crystal display innovations.
• Sidney Pestka (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award)
• Carl Dietrich (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)

2005

• Elwood "Woody" Norris (Lemelson–MIT Prize) for his invention of a hypersonic sound system, which allows sound to be focused with laser-like precision.
• Robert Dennard (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award)
• David Berry (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)

2004

• Nick Holonyak, Jr. (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Edith M. Flanigen (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award)
• Saul Griffith (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)

2003

• Leroy Hood (Lemelson–MIT Prize) for his invention of four devices that have helped unlock the human genome, including the automated DNA sequencer.
• William P. Murphy Jr. (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award)
• James McLurkin (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)10-min. video about him on NOVA scienceNOW

2002

• Dean Kamen (Lemelson–MIT Prize) for his invention of the Segway and of an infusion pump for diabetics.
• Ruth R. Benerito (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award)
• Andrew Heafitz (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Kavita Shukla (Lemelson–MIT Invention Apprentice)

2001

• Raymond Kurzweil (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Raymond Damadian (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award) for his work in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• Brian Hubert (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Jordan Sand (Lemelson–MIT Invention Apprentice)

2000

• Thomas Fogarty (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Al Gross (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award) for his invention of the first walkie-talkie, CB radio, the telephone pager, and the cordless telephone.
• Amy Smith (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Charles Johnson (Lemelson–MIT Invention Apprentice)
• Michael Lim, Jalal Khan, and Thomas Murphy (Lemelson–MIT Student Team Prize, one time award)

1999

• Carver Mead (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Stephanie Kwolek (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award) for her work on liquid-crystalline polymers and the development of the armored fabric Kevlar.
• Daniel DiLorenzo (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)
• Krysta Morlan (Lemelson–MIT Invention Apprentice)

1998

• Robert Langer (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• Jacob Rabinow (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award) for the first disc-shaped magnetic storage media for computers, the magnetic particle clutch, the first straight-line phonograph, the first self-regulating clock, and a "reading machine" which was the first to use the "best match" principle.
• Akhil Madhani (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)

1997

• Douglas Engelbart (Lemelson–MIT Prize) for his invention of the computer mouse.
• Gertrude Elion (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award) for the following inventions:
  • 6-mercaptopurine (Purinethol), the first treatment for leukemia.
  • azathioprine (Imuran), the first immuno-suppressive agent, used for organ transplants.
  • allopurinol (Zyloprim), for gout.
  • pyrimethamine (Daraprim), for malaria.
  • trimethoprim (Septra), for meningitis, septicemia, and bacterial infections of the urinary and respiratory tracts.
  • acyclovir (Zovirax), for viral herpes.
• Nathan Kane (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)

1996

• Stanley Norman Cohen (Co-recipient, Lemelson–MIT Prize) for the development of methods to combine and transplant genes.
• Herbert Boyer (Co-recipient, Lemelson–MIT Prize) for the development of methods to combine and transplant genes.
• Wilson Greatbatch (Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award) for the development of batteries for the early implantable cardiac pacemakers.
• David Levy (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)

1995

• William Bolander (Lemelson–MIT Prize)
• William Hewlett (Co-recipient, Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award)
• David Packard (Co-recipient, Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award)
• Thomas Massie (Lemelson–MIT Student Prize)

See also

• Lemelson Foundation
• Jerome H. Lemelson

References

1. "Inventor Creates First Mass-Produced Low-Cost, Eco-Friendly Battery; Awarded $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize". Lemelson-MIT Program. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
2. Rob Matheson, Angela Belcher wins $500,000 Lemelson–MIT Prize, MIT News, June 4th, 2013.
3. "Stanford professor wins $500G MIT invention prize". Fox News. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
4. Graphene Leads to Nobel Prize Win for England Researchers; Faster Charging Batteries for MI Dealers? Oct. 5th, 2010, Michigan Auto Times.
5. Dave Lucas, Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize, WMAC New York News, March 4th, 2010.
6. Larry Greenemeier, Next-Gen Scientists Honored for Evolving Medicine and Renewables, Scientific American, March 3rd, 2010.
7. Rensselaer Pioneers Hydrogen Storage and Graphene Composites, New York State Science Technology Law Center, 2010.
8. Larry Greenemeier, Graphene used to make a hydrogen molecule “parking garage”, Scientific American, March 19th, 2010.
9. Michael Mullaney, Helping Hydrogen: Student Inventor Tackles Challenge of Hydrogen Storage, RPI News, March 3, 2010.

External links

• Lemelson–MIT Program Official Website
• Lemelson–MIT Program: Winner's Circle
• Lemelson–MIT Program: Lemelson–MIT Prize
• Lemelson–MIT Illinois Student Prize Official Website
• Lemelson–MIT Caltech Student Prize Official Website