The 2007 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize
from Good Thinking (415 articles)
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Image Gallery ( 2 images )Modern-day Renaissance man Brian Hubert developed the world’s first nano-assembly machine, capable of picking up and assembling thousands of atoms of almost any material at one time. Hubert holds patents for a low-cost plastic memory chip and a superconductor fabrication machine. Other inventions include stock analysis software, a hip joint replacement implant and a dynaplanar volumetric display system that projects 3-D images. Hubert, who has his S.M. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, is also a concert pianist and architectural designer. Amy Smith, 2000
Designing low-tech devices with appropriate technologies, Amy Smith has benefited societies in many developing countries with devices such as her low-cost screenless grain hammermill and clamp to regulate the flow of intravenous fluids. Smith, who earned her S.M. in mechanical engineering, has also invented a phase-change laboratory incubator and a phase-change microscope slide warmer used to diagnose tuberculosis. An MIT Edgerton Center instructor and MacArthur Fellow, Smith is also a co-organizer of the MIT IDEAS (Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Action and Service) Competition to promote student inventiveness for community needs. Daniel DiLorenzo, 1999
Advancing neuroscience via electrical engineering, Daniel DiLorenzo has developed a functional electrical stimulation (FES) device to restore gait to paraplegic patients, and has created neuroelectrical implants to provide sensory feedback in prosthetic limbs. DiLorenzo bears patents for closed-loop neuromodulation; a method to control brain swelling during brain surgery; a method to treat Parkinson’s Disease; and a Sleep Dry System to train children with bed-wetting problems. He has received his M.B.A. and M.D., and also earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He currently serves as CEO of BioNeuronics, which he founded in 2005. Akhil Madhani, 1998
Akhil Madhani, who holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, has implemented robotics in a vast array of areas. His tele-operated “Black Falcon” manipulates bodily tissue and can sew and tie off sutures during minimally invasive surgery. “The Talon,” which he constructed for a NASA program, is a robotic wrist system for remote autonomous exploration. His “WAM” is a robotic arm capable of catch and retrieval movements. Now a Disney Imagineer, Madhani creates the illusion of life in robotics, such as Lucky the dinosaur, for Disney’s theme parks. Nathan Kane, 1997
From modernizing an antiquated bellows design to co-creating a football embedded with a T.V. remote control, Nathan Kane is credited with a breadth of innovations (many co-invented). Among them are: the HydroRailTM modular hydrostatic bearing for machine tools, Project-a- Sketch TM opaque children’s projector and an air supply mask with a self-retracting hose. Kane (Ph.D., mechanical engineering,) has received patents for his low-distortion bellow folds designs for industrial machines, created through computer analyzed fold patterns. David Levy, 1996
Independent inventor David Levy’s inventions span many fields, from medicine to telecommunications. His patents include an “Improved Vascular Splicing Method” to seal blood vessels quickly during surgery; the WedgieTM bicycle seat lock—to prevent bicycle theft; Peelables®, layered self-adhering labels; and the Pass-ITTM TV remote (co-invented). Levy (Ph.D., mechanical engineering) established TH, Inc. (1989) to license his patents and started Digit Wireless, LLC (2000) to develop his FastapTM Keypad, the world’s smallest keypad. Thomas Massie, 1995
While an MIT student, Thomas Massie began SensAble Technologies in 1993 to market the PHANTOM—a haptic computer interface, which allows a user to "feel" and “manipulate” objects on a screen. Co-invented with Dr. Kenneth Salisbury (MIT), the PHANTOM aids in creating virtual models for a variety of applications. Massie, who received his S.M. in mechanical engineering, is also credited with an automatic plant watering tool and an Andean weaving machine.
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