“I’ve always had an innate curiosity about why things work the way they do, and I think that curiosity has helped me take a few chances and given me a wonderful career along the way,” he said in a statement.
Starkweather is among this year’s National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees who will be honoured at a formal induction ceremony in Washington, DC. The inventions and their inventors range from the widely celebrated Steve Jobs for his contributions to the personal computing, mobile device and music industries, to Dennis Gabor for his invention of holography.
“Through their dedication and persistence, these inventors have helped shape not just today but also the future,” Edward Gray, chairman of the Hall of Fame Board of Directors, said in a statement.
USPTO Director David Kappos said the inventors “have transformed the way we interact with the world”.
“Their patented inventions have built businesses, created jobs, and will inspire technological advances for generations to come,” he added.
The ceremony, sponsored by the USPTO and taking place at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, will recognise six living inventors and three additional ones posthumously.
The National Inventors Hall of Fame accepts nominations each year. According to the non-profit organisation, the invention must be covered by a US patent and have impacted “society, the public welfare, and the progress of science and the useful arts”.
For more information on the inductees and their inventions, visit invent.org.
The inventors
Akira Endo – Mevastatin
Barbara Liskov – programming languages and system design
C Kumar N Patel – carbon dioxide laser
Lubomyr Romankiw and David Thompson – thin-film magnetic heads
Gary Starkweather – laser printer
Alejandro Zaffaroni – controlled drug delivery systems
Posthumous recognition
Dennis Gabor – electron holography
Steve Jobs – technology
Maria Telkes – solar thermal storage systems
