3-4-97
Contacts:
Martin Jischke, President, (515) 294-2042
John Anderson, University Relations, (515) 294-6136
DES MOINES RECEPTION FOR IOWA STATE INVENTORS
The inventors behind three award-winning Iowa
State technologies will be honored at a 4 p.m. reception
today (Mar. 4) at the Des Moines Club. The reception is for
Iowa State's three 1996 R&D 100 Award winners.
The products are a lawn-care herbicide that uses corn gluten as an active ingredient, an airplane inspection device that readily detects corrosion and internal defects, and a vaccine that helps combat a costly salmonella swine disease. Iowa State won more R&D 100 Awards in 1996 than any other educational institution.
"Three awards for such a wide range of technologies, from aviation to agronomy to animal husbandry, is remarkable," said ISU President Martin Jischke. "We are very proud of the individuals who received these awards. They are indicative of the innovative spirit at Iowa State University, and the fact that our research not only explores basic science, but puts science to use to solve real problems and generate real economic opportunities."
The R&D 100 Awards program, sponsored by R&D Magazine, honors the top 100 products of technological significance that were marketed or licensed during the previous calendar year.
Corn-fed lawn care
Use of corn gluten as a herbicide was discovered by Iowa
State University horticulturist Nick Christians. Christians
found that pre-emergence application of corn gluten controls
crabgrass and other weeds, providing an environmentally
friendly alternative to synthetic chemical herbicides.
The corn gluten is non-toxic and commonly is used as an additive in feeds for dogs, cattle and poultry. Christians' development is being marketed under the name A-MAIZING LAWN, by Gardens! Alive Corp., Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Airplane inspection
The "dripless bubbler" allows automated, high-resolution
ultrasonic inspection of aircraft skins containing protruding
rivets. The technology, which helps assure the flight
worthiness of airplanes, was developed by David Hsu, ISU
adjunct professor and senior scientist at the Center for
Nondestructive Evaluation (CNDE), and Thadd Patton, a former
ISU graduate student and assistant scientist at the Center.
The dripless bubbler can scan freely over surface protrusions and generates high- resolution images. It can focus down to 1/32 of an inch, producing an image with 6 to 10 times better resolution than produced with contact transducers. The result is a superior image that was previously available only in a laboratory setting.
Swine salmonella
A vaccine to prevent a costly salmonella swine disease was
developed by Theodore T. Kramer, a veterinary microbiologist,
and Michael Roof, Kramer's former graduate student. They
created a vaccine that prevents swine salmonellosis, a
sometimes fatal disease in young pigs.
Sold as SC54 by NOBL Laboratories Inc., Sioux Center, Iowa, the vaccine can be administered either nasally or orally, which is less expensive and more convenient than injections. Salmonella infection is estimated to cost U.S. pork producers about $100 million annually in death loss, reduced weight gains and medical costs.
-30-
Editors:
Reporters are welcome to meet Iowa State's award-winning
inventors at today's reception at 4 p.m. The Des Moines Club
is located in the Ruan Building, 666 Grand Ave., Des
Moines
.
Diana Pounds, University Relations, dpounds@iastate.edu
Iowa State homepage
Copyright © 1997, Iowa State University, all rights
reserved
URL:
http://www.iastate.edu/general/releases/RDreception.html
Revised 3/4/97