Ohio State Engineer One Of World's "Top Young Innovators"

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(Last updated 5/23/02)

Editors: For more information about the TR100 awards and Technology Review, contact Kristen Collins, (617) 795-0800; kristen@kmcpartners.com

Previous research stories pertaining to Derek Hansford's work:

"Electricity Can Pump Medicine In Implanted Medical Devices," 5/2/02.

"Nanotechnology Meets Nature In The Future Of Drug Delivery," 9/26/00.

"New Technique Builds Microscopic Medical Devices For Transplants," 8/28/99.

OHIO STATE ENGINEER ONE OF WORLD'S "TOP YOUNG INNOVATORS"

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Ohio State University engineer has been named one of the world's 100 Top Young Innovators by the magazine Technology Review.

Derek Hansford, assistant professor of materials science and engineering and biomedical engineering, was honored for his innovative methods for fabricating tiny medical devices out of plastic.

The "TR100" recipients will travel to Cambridge, MA, on May 23, 2002 for a conference and awards ceremony hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The event, themed "The Innovation Economy: How Technology is Transforming Existing Businesses and Creating New Ones", includes a full day of conference sessions and panel discussions followed by an evening gala awards ceremony.

Hansford works within the emerging field of nanotechnology, where researchers are developing devices that measure only a few billionths of a meter across. In Hansford's case, the tiny devices could one day be used for medical treatments -- for instance, to deliver drugs to sites of disease inside the body.

Such devices must be made from biocompatible materials, including plastic, so Hansford has developed innovative ways of carving tiny structures out of plastic. He has also found ways to adjust the surface properties of the plastic to help devices perform specialized duties, such as sticking to certain types of cells.

"Industry has already invested a great deal of time and effort in developing fabrication techniques for silicon structures, so I didn't have to reinvent the wheel," Hansford said. "My goal has been to adapt those silicon-based techniques to plastic, with the idea that the fabrication methods have to be affordable and easy to implement in industry."

Hansford's techniques will eventually be made available to industry through the Ohio MicroMD Laboratory, a biomedical research laboratory and microfabrication facility owned and operated by Ohio State. Hansford, chief scientist at MicroMD, has filed an invention disclosure for his fabrication techniques with the university.

The TR100, chosen annually by Technology Review, MIT's award-winning magazine of innovation, consists of 100 individuals below the age of 35 whose "innovative work in business and technology has a profound impact on today's world." Nominees are recognized for their contribution in transforming the nature of technology in industries such as biotechnology, computing, energy, medicine, manufacturing, nanotechnology, telecommunications and transportation.

Judges for the 2002 round of awards hailed from both industry and academia, including places such as the California Institute of Technology; University of Pennsylvania; Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies; the IBM Academy of Technology; and the stock market Nasdaq.

Re-launched in 1998 as "MIT's Magazine of Innovation," Technology Review is the world's oldest technology magazine.

Hansford's research has received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Cancer Institute, as well as partners in industry.

Contacts: Derek Hansford, (614) 292-9957; Hansford.4@osu.edu

Written by Pam Frost Gorder, (614) 292-9475; Gorder.1@osu.edu