UCSB alumna awarded 2013 Lemelson-MIT Prize

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (June 4, 2013) – Dr. Angela Belcher, a materials chemist and one of the world’s leading scientists in nanotechnology was announced today as the recipient of the 2013 $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize. Belcher has drawn inspiration from nature and its ability to create materials. She believes that if organic and inorganic materials can combine in nature to produce exquisite structures, similar processes can be used in the lab to create things of which nature hasn’t yet dreamed. She has used these lessons in biology to design novel, hybrid organic-inorganic materials that have been used to create environmentally-friendly batteries and clean transportation fuel, among other inventions with both commercial and social value. The Lemelson-MIT Prize, which honors an outstanding mid-career inventor dedicated to improving our world through technological invention, has been awarded annually since 1995.

Dr. Belcher completed her PhD in Chemistry under the advisement of Dr. Galen Stucky at UC Santa Barbara in 1997.  See http://lemelson.mit.edu/winners/dr-angela-belcher for the full story.

Dr. Angela Belcher genetically engineers viruses to create new products