Two UF professors elected to National Academy of Inventors
Two members of the UF community were named as Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.
Emeritus professor of anesthesiology Richard Melker and professor of obstetrics and gynecology Gregory Schultz were recognized for their spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.
Richard Melker, who co-founded the medical technology company Xhale® Inc. in Gainesville in 2005, was chosen for his prolific biomedical inventions. Those include his first and most successful – the Melker Emergency Cricothyrotomy Catheter Set for emergency airway access licensed in 1985 by Cook Medical, which continues to be used frequently today worldwide – and numerous devices to improve patient monitoring. He has more than 70 issued U.S
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V. Chandra Chandrasekar and Susan James, both faculty members in the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering at Colorado State University, have been named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors, the organization announced Dec. 8.
The NAI Fellows Program highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Election to NAI Fellow is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.
Chandrasekar, a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is also a fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. He is a leading expert in the fields of weather radar and radar signal processing, and he holds 35 patents in radar system design, radar network development, radiofrequency communications, and more.