[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 161 (Thursday, September 17, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FLORIDA INVENTORS HALL OF FAME 2020 INDUCTEES

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                         HON. GUS M. BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 17, 2020

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the eight 
inventors who have been recognized as the 2020 Inductees of the Florida 
Inventors Hall of Fame. To be named as an Inductee, these inventors 
were nominated by their peers nationwide and have undergone the 
scrutiny of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame Selection Committee. As 
a result, their innovations have been identified as significantly 
impacting the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of 
their communities, the residents of Florida, and the United States.
  The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame was founded in 2013 at the 
University of South Florida. It was recognized by the Florida Senate 
with Senate Resolution 1756, adopted on April 30, 2014. Its mission is 
to encourage individuals of all backgrounds to strive toward the 
betterment of Florida and society through continuous, groundbreaking 
innovation by celebrating the incredible scientific work that has been 
or is being accomplished in Florida and by its citizens.
  Nomination to the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is open to all 
Florida inventors (living or dead) who are or have been residents of 
Florida. The nominee must be a named inventor on a patent issued by the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office. The impact of the inventor 
and his or her invention should be significant to society, and the 
invention should have been commercialized, utilized, or led to 
important innovations.
  The 2020 Inductees of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame are:
  Christopher Batich: University of Florida Professor of materials 
science and engineering and biomedical engineering, who developed 
groundbreaking treatments in patient care, most notably the anti-
bacterial surface treatment material, Bioguard, which is used as the 
standard of care for advanced wound dressing and bacterial barriers in 
hospitals and healthcare facilities.
  Nicholas Bodor: Founder and CEO of Bodor Laboratories, University of 
Florida Professor Emeritus and prolific inventor whose innovations in 
drug discovery established the field of retrometabolic drug design and 
led him to develop a portfolio of novel drugs to treat numerous 
inflammatory disease processes.
  Harvey Firestone (1868-1938): Founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber 
Company whose pioneering innovations revolutionized the commercial 
rubber industry, and who advanced scientific research in Florida and 
co-founded the Edison Botanic Research Corporation to develop a 
domestic source of natural rubber.
  Leslie Kramer: Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing at 
TaiLor Made Prosthetics; scientist, engineer and entrepreneur whose 
long career in industry led to groundbreaking innovations in composite 
materials, military defense applications and most notably an advanced 
carbon-fiber composite prosthetic foot that has improved the lives of 
amputees.
  Israel Morejon: Founder and President of Integrated Engineering 
Technology whose inventions have provided innovative solutions across 
multiple industries, most notably state-of-the-art LED lighting 
technologies, Nano projectors, wireless modem technology, optical 
tomography for cancer detection systems, and cutting-edge HVAC Load 
Reduction technology.
  Joshua Rokach: Florida Institute of Technology Professor who was the 
first to synthesize major inflammatory triggers responsible for asthma, 
allergies, and inflammatory bowel disease, which revolutionized medical 
research in allergy and inflammation and led him to develop a number of 
groundbreaking drug discoveries, including Singulair and Flexeril.
  Jean-Francois Rossignol: Co-Founder and Chief Medical & Scientific 
Officer of Romark Laboratories and University of South Florida 
Affiliate Professor of Medicine whose breakthroughs in treatments for 
parasitic diseases led to his discovery of thiazolides, a new class of 
antiparasitic agents, later discovered as a new class of broad-spectrum 
antiviral drugs also used in the fight against novel infectious 
diseases.
  Christine Schmidt: University of Florida Professor and Chair of the 
J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering whose 
pioneering research in biomaterials science led to her development of 
decellularization techniques used in Avance Nerve Graft, a 
biochemically processed nerve graft that benefits patients with 
peripheral nerve damage.
  Innovation and invention are the building blocks of our nation. I 
applaud these highly accomplished individuals and the organizations 
that support them in their quest to change the world in ways that truly 
benefit humanity. It is because of the perseverance of these inventors 
that future generations are encouraged to reach beyond their limits and 
push the boundaries of innovation.

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