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Six individuals and one couple were recently inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, housed at the University of South Florida Research Park in Tampa. The 2017 class of inductees includes:
• Richard Gitlin, who co-invented DSL, the technology that made it possible to access the internet via telephone networks, according to a statement. Gitlin, a distinguished professor of engineering at USF, holds 60 patents and has been recognized by the state of Florida as a 21st Century World Class Scholar — one of only 16 academics statewide to boast that honor;
• Issa Batarseh, director of the Florida Power Electronics Center and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, for inventing low-cost, high efficiency micro-inverters for photovoltaic (PV) applications that led to the creation of the first compact single solar PV panel;
• Michael DeLuca, electrical engineer and IP counsel for NextEra Energy and Florida Power & Light, in Juno Beach, for what Hall of Fame officials call groundbreaking technology known today as “voltage scaling,” which significantly increased the battery life of portable communication devices;
• Kenneth Ford, co-founder and CEO of the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, in Pensacola and Ocala, for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence and human-centered computing;
• Phillip Frost, physician, inventor and current CEO and chairman of OPKO Health in Miami, who Hall officials say invented a revolutionary disposable punch biopsy tool, as well as various therapeutic methods for treating rhinitis, cell disease and diabetes;
• Thomas Maren (1918-1999), physician, graduate research professor at the University of Florida and charter member of the UF College of Medicine faculty, where he chaired the Department of Pharmacology for 22 years. Maren's research, according to the statement, resulted in the invention and commercialization of Trusopt, the first topical treatment for glaucoma; and
• T. Dwayne and Mary Helen McCay, the first scientist couple nominated to the Hall of Fame. The couple jointly holds 15 U.S. patents in the area of metallurgical engineering, specific to laser-induced surface improvement that have greatly contributed to increased patient safety and improved medical outcomes in facilities nationwide, according to the statement.
The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame was founded in 2013.
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