Princeton University R&D Council of NJ 2017 Edison Patent Award Winner

The Research & Development Council of New Jersey was proud to honor 14 winners with the 2017 Edison Patent Awards. These winners were honored at the 38th Edison Patent Awards Ceremony & Reception at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City on November 2, 2017.
The R&D Council also honored the inventor of Solvaldi, a cure for Hepatitis C, Dr. Michael Sofia; former Merck CEO and Regeneron Board Chair, Dr. P. Roy Vagelos; and Bedtime Math Foundation Founder and Overdeck Family Foundation Chair, Laura Overdeck, for their unique contributions to research and development, to growth in business initiative and STEM education.

Princeton University and inventors Craig Arnold, Euan Mcleod, Alexandre Mermillod-Blondin and Christian Theriault received a patent award in the technology transfer category for “Tunable Acoustic Gradient Index of Refraction Lens and System” (U.S. 8,194,307). This patent represents the first time that sound has been used to make a controllable lens for imaging and materials processing applications. Instead of relying on a physical change of a surface or interface to redirect light, this patent uses sound to travel through a material, causing small, coordinated density fluctuations which lead to a well-defined index of refraction that can be easily controlled by the user to produce the desired optical effect. Princeton University has licensed this patent and corresponding family of patents to TAG Optics Inc., a New Jersey start-up that commercialized this technology under the trade name “TAG Lens”. The patented TAG Lens works by using a piezoelectric material to generate sound in a liquid resulting in an index of refraction profile that creates a simple lens element. This versatile device is the world’s fastest variable focus lens with the ability to scan over a complete range of focal lengths in only microseconds. The TAG Lens has been transforming the field of biological imaging for health and medical applications; it also is creating a large impact in the industrial inspection, manufacturing and machine vision markets.