SRNL microsphere filled with palladium where the top of the microballoon has been removed to view the inside. Source: The Bulletin, Vol. 87, No. 6, p. 26
The R&D 100 awards for 2011 have been released, and the list of winners includes a strong representation from the field of materials science. There were more entries this year than there have been in recent years. In the press release, Rita Peters, editorial director of R&D Magazine observed “During the recent economic downturn, industry, academia, and government labs continued to innovate. The editors were impressed with the strong field of candidates for this year’s R&D 100 Awards.”
The purpose of the awards is to identify the “100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the last year.” Awardees are chosen by an independent panel of judges and the editors of R&D Magazine. In the press release, it was noted that some previous R&D 100 winners have been so successful that they are now household names: ATMs, fax machines, Nicoderm anti-smoking patches, HDTV and more.
The American Ceramic Society extends its congratulations to all awardees, especially those connected to ceramic materials engineering. Highlighted below are awardees that occupy or connect with the ceramics universe. Some of the winners listed below are familiar names; other may not be….yet.
- A123 Systems Inc.: Nanophosphate Engine Start Battery
- Argonne National Laboratory,: Advanced Ceramic Film Capacitors for Power Electronics in Electric Drive Vehicles (team lead by ACerS Fellow Bala Balachandran); and Integrated Radio Frequency Microelectromechanical System Switch/Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Device
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab: Nanostructured Antifogging Coatings
- Materials and Electrochemical Research Corp., Supermagnets
- MesoCoat Inc.: CermaClad
- NASA Glenn Research Center: Non-Flow-Through Fuel Cell Power System
- NASA Langley: SansEC Temperature Sensor
- National Energy Technology Lab: Mn-Co Coating for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Interconnects
- National Renewable Energy Lab: Innovalight Silicon Ink for High-Efficiency Solar Cells
- Oak Ridge National Lab: Mesoporous Carbon Electrode for Desalination; and Ultra-high Storage Density, Self-assembled, Magnetic Media (researchers include ACerS Fellow Amit Goyal, R&D’s 2010 “Inventor of the Year” and member Claudia Cantoni)
- Sandia National Labs: Biomimetic Membranes for Water Purification; and Ultrahigh-voltage Silicon Carbide Thyristor
- Savannah River National Lab: Porous Walled, Hollow Glass Microspheres
- SUNY Stony Brook: Electricity-generating Shock Absorbers
- Taiwan Textile Research Institute: All-foldable Fabric Ultracapacitor
- Tesla NanoCoatings Ltd.: Teslan Carbon Nanocoating
- Army Engineer Research and Development Center: All Thermoplastic Composite, I-Beam Design, High-Capacity Bridge System
