Update NJIT and its president receive recognition from RD Council

The Research & Development Council of New Jersey, whose membership includes representatives from academia, industry, and government, honored New Jersey Institute of Technology President Joel Bloom as one of the winners of the 2015 Edison Patent Awards at the 36th Edison Patent Awards Ceremony & Reception last week.(Editor’s note: This report was updated at 9:45 a.m. Friday with comments from Joel Bloom of NJIT.)

The Research & Development Council of New Jersey, whose membership includes representatives from academia, industry, and government, honored New Jersey Institute of Technology President Joel Bloom as one of the winners of the 2015 Edison Patent Awards at the 36th Edison Patent Awards Ceremony & Reception last week.

At the event, Bloom was recognized as Educator of the Year.

“In large measure, the honor of being named Educator of the Year reflects the honor of personally participating in the mission of New Jersey Institute of Technology for more than two decades,” Bloom said in a prepared statement. “Historically, New Jersey has been a keystone not only in regional well-being based on science and technology, but in improving the quality of life for people across the nation. To mention Edison, the first incandescent electric lights banished darkness in Menlo Park.”

NJIT, along with inventors Tara Lynn Alvarez and Bérangere Granger, also received a patent award in the biomedical technology category for “Method for Determining the Acceptance of Progressive Addition Lenses.” The invention establishes a methodology by which a clinician can identify which people will easily adapt to progressive addition lenses, compared with those who will have a more difficult time.

The school was honored along with other individuals and companies, including Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, Avaya, BASF, Ethicon, Holtec International, Novartis, Rutgers University, Siemens Corporate Technology and TE Connectivity SubCom.

They were acknowledged for innovative patent work spanning 11 R&D categories, including biopharmaceuticals, biomedical technology, environmental technology, industrial technology, information technology, medical devices, medical informatics, pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical formulations, public safety and telecommunications.

The R&D Council also honored New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and astronomer Robert Woodrow Wilson, who is a Nobel Laureate of Physics and received the council’s highest award, the Science & Technology Medal.