Published: Dec. 10, 2018 By

Innovative research lands two CU Boulder affiliates in National Academy of Inventors

Left: John "Jan" Hall; Right: Alan Weimer

Past NAI Fellows from CU Boulder
  • Distinguished Professor Kristi Anseth (Chemical and Biological Engineering) in2015
  • Distinguished Professor Christopher Bowman (Chemical and Biological Engineering) in2016
  • Distinguished Professor Leslie Leinwand (Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology; Chief Scientific Officer, BioFrontiers Institute)in 2016
  • Distinguished Professor Marvin Caruthers (Chemistry and Biochemistry), 2017
  • Professor Larry Gold (Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology),2017

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) today named two members of the CU Boulder research community to its class of fellows for 2018.

Alan Weimer is the H.T. Sears Memorial professor of chemical and biological engineering and a world recognized expert in fluid-particle processing.

John “Jan” Hall, a fellow and senior research associate at JILA—a joint institute on campus between CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—is an adjoint professor of physics.

Those elected to the NAI are inventors on U.S. patents nominated by their peers for outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, babyֱapp development and the welfare of society.

The NAI named 148 fellows in 2018, representing research universities and government and non-profit research institutes. The 2018 fellows collectively hold nearly 4,000 issued U.S. patents.

Weimer, whose research interests include particle surface modification, solar-thermal processing and nano-energy, has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and is named inventor on 38issued and eight pending U.S. Patents. He also co-founded a startup company,, which aims to transform industries like lighting, energy storage, consumer electronics and water purification.

Hall received a Nobel Laureate in Physics in 2005for his innovative work on laser-based precision spectroscopy, including optical frequency comb technique. He is renowned for his work to develop and apply innovative laser techniques to the study of fundamental physical constants and theories, and to advance measurement science.

The 2018 NAI Fellows will be highlighted with a full page announcement in the Jan. 25, 2019 issue ofThe Chronicle of Higher Educationand in upcoming issues ofTechnology & Innovation.

ճis a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 4,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 250 institutions worldwide.