McKeever named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

Monday, January 28, 2013

Dr. Stephen McKeever, vice president for research and technology transfer at Oklahoma State University, will be inducted as a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors at the academy’s upcoming conference February 21-22 in Tampa, Fla.  McKeever, who also serves as the state secretary of science and technology, is one of 98 other accomplished researchers who will be recognized.  

Housed at the University of South Florida, NAI was founded in 2010 to acknowledge investigators at universities and their affiliated institutions who translate their research findings into inventions that benefit society.  The NAI recognizes inventors who have a patent issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  The organization also enhances the visibility of university technology and academic innovation, encourages the disclosure of intellectual property and educates and mentors innovative students.

McKeever, his colleague Dr. Mark Akselrod and other members of McKeever’s research team developed and patented a new technique for measuring radiation exposure in the mid-1990s.  Known as Optically Stimulated Luminescence or OSL, the technique uses luminescence emitted from radiation-sensitive materials to measure radiation exposure.  The technology was licensed to Landauer, the world's leading provider of technical and analytical services and products to determine occupational and environmental radiation exposure, in 1998.  It is the basis for the company’s radiation badges, which are worn by technicians, healthcare workers and researchers all over the world to monitor radiation exposure.

Landauer continues to support the development of new radiation sensor technologies at OSU through collaborations with a research group led by Dr. Eduardo Yukihara.  These efforts focus on the development of better tools for protection of people working with radiation as well as tools for the precise delivery of radiation doses during radiotherapy procedures in oncology.  For more information on these ongoing projects, visit http://www.physics.okstate.edu/yukihara/Personal/Welcome.html

For more information on NAI and the upcoming conference, visit http://www.academyofinventors.org/