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GW Inventor of the Year

For Nominating Departments

Please carefully review the Award Criteria and Selection Process information below for completing your nominee's submission package. Be sure to attach the Inventor of the Year Award Submission Package cover sheet to submitted materials.

Cover Sheet

 

New Award for 2023!


Under the leadership of the Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) within Faculty Affairs, this award recognizes a regular, full-time faculty member’s outstanding impact on society through transferring technology from academia to the commercial sector. It is presented annually along with a $1,000 prize to be used for professional development. It provides a tangible symbol of the George Washington University’s commitment to translating research outputs to useful products that impact lives. 

Faculty may nominate a regular, full-time faculty member for this award.  The University will honor the recipient at the annual Faculty Honors Ceremony.

 

Award Criteria

This award is presented annually to a member of the regular, full-time faculty that has made significant impact on society by inventing new technology and working with the TCO to patent, license, and transfer the technology to a business partner. The committee will consider: 

  • The nominee’s invention(s) and its impact or value to the field and society; 
  • The nominee’s contribution to the University and the field; and 
  • The nominee’s innovative creativity and commitment to impact as demonstrated by the invention(s) itself and commercialization history.

 

Selection Process

The GW Inventor of the Year is nominated by faculty, endorsed by the TCO, and then voted upon by committee. 

The process:

  1. Faculty must complete the nomination form by December 16, 2022.
     
  2. To endorse the nomination, the department is asked to submit the following supporting materials electronically as a single PDF document by February 3, 2023 to [email protected]:
  • Inventor of the Year Award Submission Package cover sheet;
  • Letter in support from nominator; 
  • Letters in support from department chair and vice or associate dean; 
  • Statement of endorsement by TCO; 
  • In consultation with TCO, a list of licensees of nominee’s patents, including a short description of the significant patents licensed, development status (on sale, scaling up, clinical trial, prototyping, proof of concept), and nominee’s relationship (Founder, CXO, advisory board member, consultant); 
  • In consultation with TCO, a list of granted and pending US patents and patent applications; 
  • A statement of impact on public welfare and economic impact (jobs created, lives touched) (200 words maximum); 
  • Optional external (outside of GW) support letters (e.g., patent licensee) (two maximum); and 
  • Optional citations to publications related to inventions. 
     

The submission package should be a maximum of 25 pages, not including the required cover sheet and nominee's CV; materials beyond the 25-page limit will not be considered. 

*Nomination materials will not be returned*

The recipients will be honored at the Faculty Honors Ceremony in the spring.

 

Deadlines

  • December 16, 2022: Nomination forms for 2023 are due
  • February 3, 2023: Submission packages due to [email protected]

For more information about criteria and how to apply, please direct inquiries to [email protected].