The Alan S. Michaels Award for Innovation in Membrane Science and Technology, consists of a $10,000 prize and lifetime membership in the North American Membrane Society (NAMS). It is given to individuals who have made breakthrough contributions to the membrane field.
Dr. Alan Michaels was one of the true innovators and pioneers in membrane science and technology. His academic and industrial work on ultrafiltration, membrane-based drug delivery systems, and new membrane processes for the biopharmaceutical industry all represented breakthroughs that helped redefine the membrane field.
This award is given by the North American Membrane Society to honor the late Dr. Michaels and to recognize individuals who have made outstanding innovations and/or exceptional lifetime contributions to membrane science and technology.
Eligibility
Anyone working in the field of membrane science and technology is eligible to be nominated (except for current members of the Board of Directors of NAMS).
Application Materials (submitted as one electronic PDF of MS Word file)
Nominations must be submitted by a member of the North American Membrane Society. (Note: Members of the NAMS Board of Directors cannot submit nominations during their term of office). The nomination package should include:
- a cover letter describing the individual’s contribution and its importance to the field of membrane science and technology,
- three letters of recommendation in support of the nomination, and
- supporting materials, e.g., list of awards, publications, books, patents, etc.
The next call for Alan S. Michaels Award nominations will be in 2010.
Past Recipients
| 2002 - Dr. Richard W. Baker |
Dr. Baker, Membrane Technology and Research Inc., received the inaugural Michaels Award for:
“...for his scientific inventiveness in a number of membrane fields, ranging from controlled release to gas separation, as well as, his demonstrated achievements in transitioning developments in membrane science and engineering into commercial reality.”
He is the founder and President of Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR). His career in membrane science and technology has spanned 35 years, with contributions in gas separation, pervaporation, and controlled drug release.
Dr. Baker was a colleague of Alan Michaels first at Amicon, and then later at Alza Corporation. He later was a co-founder of Bend Research, Inc., where he was Director of Research until 1981. He then founded MTR, Inc., in 1982, to commercialize vapor separation technology (VaporSep®) which was awarded a 1990 R&D 100 Award and 1997 Chemical Engineering Magazine Kirkpatrick Award. During this period, he was also President of Pharmetrix Corporation (a joint-venture devoted to controlled release applications) and a co-founder of NAMS.
He has written two highly regarded monographs, Controlled Release of Biologically Active Agents (1987) and Membrane Technology and Applications (2000); edited two other books; co-authored over 92 peer-reviewed publications; and was inventor/co-inventor on 89 patents.
| 2005 - Professor Donald R. Paul |
Professor Paul, The University of Texas at Austin, received the Michaels Award for
"... forty-plus years of significant contributions to the fundamental foundation and commercial development of this field by synergistically integrating academic research with industrial collaborations."
He holds the Ernest Cockrell, Sr. Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. After earning a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin, he worked at Chemstrand for two years doing fundamental research on pore formation during wet spinning of fibers. In 1967 he joined the faculty at University of Texas where he continued making ground-breaking advances in membrane technology. His contributions to wet spinning and transport mechanisms led to the development of hollow fiber asymmetric membranes for reverse osmosis, pervaporation, and gas separations. He is responsible for discoveries leading to the Prism® concept, which led to the first commercial gas separation membranes.
Professor Paul's continued collaboration with industry has helped to translate the discoveries made in his lab into commercial products for liquid and gas separations. He has published over 500 papers, 200 or so relating to membranes. Last year there were over 20,500 citations of these papers.
Professor Paul has also been very active in numerous editorial boards and professional organizations, including the founding committee for the North American Membrane Society. He has truly left an indelible mark on the membrane industry.
| 2008 - Professor William J. Koros |
Professor William J. Koros, the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Membranes in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, received the Michaels award for
"... his seminal research in polymer materials for advanced membrane-based separations. Professor Koros' contributions over more than 30 years have had a profound and lasting impact on both fundamental and applied concepts related to polymer membrane-based gas separation for energy-efficient air separation, hydrogen purification, and natural gas separation."
Professor Koros helped develop the fundamental theoretical framework forming the basis of our modern understanding of small molecule transport in polymers. He made highly regarded fundamental contributions to materials science design concepts that are widely used in industry today for making gas separation membranes. His intellectual leadership extends beyond polymer membranes to include pioneering studies of hybrid organic/inorganic materials (mixed matrix membranes) for gas separations.
Professor Koros was recognized also for his outstanding contributions to education. He has mentored more than 100 PhD, MS, and Post Doctoral students, many of whom have made important contributions to membrane science and technology. Additionally, he has provided exemplary service to the profession by serving as secretary of the NAMS Board of Directors for more than 15 years and by serving 17 years as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Membrane Science, overseeing a period of explosive growth in the number of submissions and the quality of the journal - a leading publication in the membrane field.
