Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

July 25, 2003

Faculty receive R&D 100 awards

The Institute for Physical Research and Technology (IPRT), in a joint entry with Concurrent Analytical Inc., Kailua, Hawaii, has won a 2003 R&D 100 Award. The award was given for a new-generation immunoassay system, the Ramanprobes™ System, for detecting and labeling antigens -- proteins that serve as the body's natural defense system against infectious agents.

The award-winning Ramanprobes™ System was developed jointly by ISU chemistry professor Marc Porter and associate scientist Bob Lipert at the Microanalytical Instrumentation Center of IPRT; and by Christian Schoen, president of Concurrent Analytical, Inc.

A second 2003 R&D 100 Award goes to Iowa State researcher Doug Jacobson and his network security company, Palisade Systems Inc., for innovative technology designed to protect the security of internal computer networks. Palisade Systems' FireBlock™ security appliance protects important internal network assets by defining access at the network level and proactively closing unauthorized access.

This is the second time Jacobson has received the coveted R&D 100 award. Jacobson is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and chief technology officer of Palisade Systems Inc., located at the ISU Research Park.

The R&D 100 Awards, the only awards for applied science and scientists, have been called the "Oscars of applied science" by the Chicago Tribune. Sponsored by R&D Magazine, the R&D 100 Awards honor the top 100 products of technological significance marketed or licensed during the previous year.

More information is online at http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/releases/03/jul/rd.shtml.