Bates, who was nominated for the award in part by U of M Technology Commercialization, holds 26 US and numerous foreign patents in the field of polymer science.
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) announced today that University of Minnesota Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Regents Professor Frank Bates has been named an NAI Fellow.
Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.
Bates is a world-renown polymer scientist who is known best for his contributions to the fundamental understanding of the phase behavior of polymer blends and to the physics of microphase-separated block copolymers. His group’s research program affects a variety of technologically important fields, including polymer processing, composites, fracture mechanics, separations, catalysis, and drug delivery.
Read the full story on the College of Science and Engineering news page.
Three other U of M inventors have previously been named NAI fellows:
- Robert Vince, Center for Drug Design, 2017
- Kamil Ugurbil, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, 2014
- Eric Kaler, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, 2012