Councilman Vishnu Patel Named Inventor of the Year

Yorktown Councilman Vishnu Patel is being recognized and honored for his work in science. He is named one of three inventors of the year.

The Eastern New York Intellectual Property Law Association has awarded the 2011 Inventor(s) of the Year Award to International Business Machines (IBM) scientists Drs. Alfred Grill and Stephen M. Gates, and Vishnubhai V. Patel. 

Nominated by Robert Trepp, Esq., the award is based on the scientists' work that lead to their patents on the "multiphase low dielectric constant material."

This U.S. patent relates to integrated circuit chips manufactured in New York and Vermont by IBM Corp. and its alliance partners. The invention disclosed in this U.S. patent relates to a low dielectric constant, multiphase material which can be used as an interconnect dielectric in integrated circuit chips, and methods for fabricating a multiphase low dielectric constant film utilizing a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique, officials said in a statement. 

Each year, the ENYIPLA chooses an individual inventor or a group of inventors from eastern New York, which extends from Westchester to the Canadian border and west to Syracuse, as Inventor of the Year. 

Members of the selection committee consider multiple factors in choosing the inventor(s) in any given year, including creativity, economic value, the difficulty of the problem, the contribution to the well-being of society as a whole and the status and potential impact of the invention.

Previous winners’ inventions have been drawn from varying technologies, including fuel cell development, gas turbine engineering, pharmaceuticals, analytical, medicaland surgical devices, computer software, and high performance ceramic materials, said Shahrokh Falati, chairperson of the Eastern New York Intellectual Property Law Association.

Patel received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and physics from Gujarat University, India, and a Master's degree in organic chemistry from the University of the Pacific in California. He worked at IBM for 36 years before retiring in 2009. Patel has more than 65 issued patents and has coauthored 80 publications. He has been honored with the IBM Research Division Award, the IBM Outstanding Innovation Award, the IBM Research Division Master Inventor position, an IBM Research Division Award, and an IBM Extraor dinary Technical Accomplishment Award.

A Senate proclamation and a plaque will be awarded to this year’s recipients at a dinner ceremony on April 14,  from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Sir John’s Italian Restaurant, located at 915 North Broadway in White Plains. The plaque will be presented by the president of the ENYIPLA. 

If you would like to attend the ceremony, please RSVP to David Aker, Esq. at davidaker@optonline.net at least two days in advance.