Heremans selected as Inventor of the Year by TechColumbus
Joseph Heremans, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Physics, and Ohio Eminent Scholar, was recently named Inventor of the Year at the TechColumbus Innovation Awards.
The TechColumbus Awards recognize Central Ohio companies and leaders for their outstanding achievements in technology leadership and innovation. TechColumbus is a nonprofit organization that focuses on Technology-based economic development in the 15 counties of central Ohio.
Heremans was recognized for his research and invention of high-efficiency thermolelectric materials for energy solutions. A company in Azusa, California, zt::plus, was recently founded around these inventions and employs Vladimir Jovovic, a graduate student of Dr. Heremans’. They have filed a provisional patent application which is now published: US2009/0178700 A1, July 16, 2009.
Dr. Heremans' research is focused on thermal transport properties of solids and nanostructures, aimed at developing thermoelectric materials with improved efficiency for both electrical power generation and heat pumping applications. A decade of research in his group and others has led to improved efficiencies through an increase in the power the devices produce for a given amount of heat input. The latter was obtained by using a carefully designed resonance between electronic levels of specific impurities alloyed into the material.
More information on this research can be found in the following article: Material May Help Autos Turn Heat into Electricity
