NSF Acting Director to Help Celebrate WSU’s World-Class Inventors

PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University will celebrate its world-class inventors — researchers whose cutting-edge discoveries led to the creation of 887 protected patents — at an address and reception to be held Friday, Sept. 17.

The celebration will include a 2:10 p.m. public address by Arden L. Bement Jr., acting director of the National Science Foundation. The event will be held in the new addition to Murrow Communication Center, Room 21. Bement’s address is entitled “Science Connects: How Discovery Drives Our Global Future.”

At 3:30 p.m., a program and reception honoring some 63 inventors will be held in the Samuel H. Smith Center for Undergraduate Education, Room 518. WSU President V. Lane Rawlins and Provost Robert C. Bates will preside.

At WSU, Petersen said, “NSF-funded projects provide support for undergraduate and graduate students working with our world-class faculty in the face-to-face environment offered by a research laboratory.  Moreover, with his rich experience in the National Institute of Science and Technology and the NSF, Dr. Bement will be able to underscore how fundamental research conducted at an institution like WSU can lead to inventions which, in turn, enhance economic development, jobs and global stability.

“As Washington‘s land-grant research university, the creation of knowledge which leads to economic development in the state is a critical aspect of WSU’s mission,” Petersen said.  “Today, these technologies are often protected through patents, enabling them to be commercially implemented.”

This celebration is expected to be a periodic event. The university’s Office of Intellectual Property Administration and Office of Research organized it in collaboration with WSU University Relations.

Bement earned a master’s degree in 1959 in metallurgical engineering from the University of Idaho and is a UI Alumni Association Hall of Fame member.

A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Bement became NSF acting director in February. He joined NSF from the directorship of the National Institute of Standards and Technology after serving as a Purdue University administrator and faculty member.

Bement’s 39-year career in industry, government and higher education included serving as a research metallurgist and reactor engineer with General Electric at Hanford in Richland. His positions have included serving as manager of the fuels and materials department and the metallurgy research department, Battelle Northwest Laboratories in Richland. He has consulted for the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

Last month, WSU announced that it received $184.2 million in new grant awards in the 2003-2004 fiscal year, breaking the record set the previous year by nearly 16 percent.