By JEROME R. STOCKFISCH | Tribune staff Published: February 21, 2013 Updated: February 21, 2013 - 12:00 AM
One helped bring the nascent Internet into our homes and now hopes to send tiny robotic cameras and surgical instruments into our bodies.
Another maintains that solar power must play a significant role in U.S. energy needs. Another demonstrated that bone marrow and stem cells can be transformed into neural cells that may help victims of stroke, spinal cord injury and Lou Gehrig's disease.
Five University of South Florida professors, along with the head of Moffitt Cancer Center who holds a joint appointment to USF, have now been recognized for their career accomplishments by being named charter fellows in the National Academy of Inventors. The accolades reflect the fact that USF is now the No. 1 university in the state in generating patents.
"I think this is one of the most prestigious of recognitions if you look at the kind of fellows that were selected and the judges," said Shyam Mohapatra, a distinguished health professor and new fellow. "It's very exciting. I feel good that I was selected."
The academy recognized 101 scientists, innovators and academic leaders from around the world for their achievements "in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society."
The fellows will be honored at the annual meeting of the academy at the Embassy Suites Hotel today and Friday.
The local honorees are:
"One of the things that makes USF stand out is its approach to entrepreneurship," Sanberg said. "We're not leaving research in the ivory tower but taking it to useful purposes in the community and elsewhere."
With 86 patents registered in 2011, USF is the only Florida university in the top 300 patent owners identified by the Intellectual Property Owners Association.
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USF, Moffitt inventors earn national recognition