By Daniel J. Vargas
January 8, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas—Brian Korgel, a chemical engineering professor at The University of Texas at Austin, has received the 2009 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award from The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST).
The award recognizes outstanding achievements by young investigators in medicine, engineering and science. Korgel, who joined the university in 1998, was one of three statewide honorees.
By applying the natural self-assembly that occurs when common materials are reduced to nano-scale, Korgel has created lower-cost, lower-maintenance devices. So far, he has co-founded two companies based on his discoveries: Innovalight in 2002 and Piñon Technologies in 2007. Korgel also founded the Doctoral Portfolio Program in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the university and served for four years as an advisor on the Texas Nanotechnology Foundation Scientific Review Board.
Professor Korgel teaches and researches nanoscience within chemical engineering at the university. A portion of his laboratory team conducts basic research in the relatively new area of nanomaterials chemistry. His other research team then applies these findings to develop new devices such as light-activated power generating products and “tunable,” low-cost chemical sensors, transistors, biotags, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
Nominations for the TAMEST award are solicited from academy members, university administrators and industry executives. Award recipients are selected by an awards committee in consultation with a panel of National Academy members from outside of Texas and a committee of Texas Nobel Laureates.
Recipients were honored Jan. 8 at the academy’s annual conference and presented with a $25,000 award funded by a permanent endowment.
Korgel holds the Matthew Van Winkle Regents Professorship in Chemical Engineering and the Temple Foundation Endowed Teaching Fellowship in Engineering No. 1.
For more information, contact: Daniel J. Vargas, Cockrell School of Engineering, 512-471-7541, Daniel.vargas2@engr.utexas.edu; or Brian Korgel, Cockrell School of Engineering, 512-471-5633, korgel@mail.che.utexas.edu.
About the Cockrell School of Engineering:
The Cockrell School ranks among the top ten engineering programs in the United States and aspires to move into the top five. With the nation's fourth highest number of faculty members elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the Cockrell School's more than 7,000 students work with many of the world's finest engineering educators and researchers. This environment prepares graduates to become engineering leaders and innovators working for the betterment of society.