Albuquerque, NM – April 15, 2015 
Distinguished and Regents’ Professor and Sandia Fellow C. Jeffrey Brinker has been chosen to receive a 2015 STC.UNM Innovation Fellow Award in recognition of his achievements as one of the University of New Mexico’s leading innovators. This special award is presented each year by the STC.UNM (STC) Board of Directors to a university faculty inventor whose body of technologies has made a significant social and economic impact on society and the marketplace. The award will be presented to Dr. Brinker at STC’s 2015 Innovation Awards Dinner on April 20, 2015. The annual event also recognizes UNM faculty, staff and students who have received issued patents and registered copyrights/trademarks within the past year. In addition to receiving the Innovation Fellow Award, Dr. Brinker will also receive an Innovation Award for four issued patents this year.
Speaking on behalf of the entire STC.UNM Board of Directors, STC CEO Lisa Kuuttila stated:
“Dr. Brinker is an outstanding scientist and inventor who is internationally known for his innovative technologies in advanced materials and who has pioneered the field of sol-gel processing. His nanoparticle technologies, engineering marvels, have a broad range of applications but none more compelling than in the field of medicine. His protocell technology, a specifically designed nanoparticle that carries cancer drugs to targeted cancer cells, represents the next generation of cancer treatment. As a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering and a fellow (reserved for those Sandians recognized as pioneers in their fields) at Sandia National Labs, Dr. Brinker is the kind of inventor who achieves at the very highest levels of research and creativity. The STC Board of Directors is honored to recognize him as a 2015 Innovation Fellow.”
UNM School of Engineering Dean Joseph Cecchi added:
“Dr. Brinker has been internationally recognized for his seminal and highly innovative contributions to nanostructured materials, including mesoporous thin films and nanoparticles. He has pioneered methods to synthesize these materials, and has exploited important real-world applications. Examples of the latter include semiconductor manufacturing, membranes for water purification and gas separations, and most recently, in his collaboration with Dr. Willman, nanoparticle platforms for targeted delivery of multicomponent drugs.
Dr. Brinker’s research and commercialization activities are shining examples of what the School of Engineering strives for-to engage in cutting-edge research that leads to high-impact commercialization. Jeff’s work increases the visibility of the School in research and commercialization. In addition, and of equal importance, Jeff is a remarkable role model for other School faculty. He is an outstanding role model to students as well, as an example of how to carry out academic research and drive it to high-impact commercialization. He has assembled an outstanding group of graduate students, undergraduate students, and postdocs, and has always engaged in synergistic collaborations with other creative faculty. Under his leadership, his group and his collaborations have generated important new knowledge that has led in multiple instances to commercialization opportunities, including the creation of new companies.”
Dr. Brinker grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, and attended Rutgers University where he received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in ceramic science. He joined Sandia National Laboratories as a member of the technical staff in 1979 and was appointed distinguished member of the technical staff at Sandia and national laboratory professor of chemical engineering and chemistry at the University of New Mexico in 1991. Since 1999, he has been jointly employed at Sandia, where he is one of four Sandia fellows and distinguished affiliate scientist at CINT (The Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies), and at UNM, where he is distinguished and regents’ professor in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, and member of the UNM Cancer Center.
Source: STC.UNM
For more information, contact:
Denise Bissell
(505) 272-7310
dbissell@stc.unm.edu