
2017 Inventor of the Year
June 13, 2017 @ 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm
| $40Congratulations to 2017 Inventor of the Year Winner Terry Wright
Terry L. Wright, the founder and Chief Technology Officer of ClearCove Systems, Inc., is and has been making groundbreaking contributions in the field of Enhanced Primary Treatment of wastewater. The facilities that Mr. Wright has invented convert wastewater into clean energy, clean water, and reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 9,586,845, Mr. Wright describes a waste management system in which a mixture of particulates is allowed to settle to form sludge. A sludge press is used to isolate and concentrate biologically digestible materials from the sludge, releasing valuable organics by fracturing casings. A grit trap removes material not likely to contain biologic materials prior to classification.
In this way, the system provided by Mr. Wright captures more bacterial food, allowing the bacteria to make more methane which can be used to make more clean energy. This also reduces secondary treatment and the byproducts of secondary treatment.

2017 RIPLA Inventor of the Year Welcome by Zosan Soong

Master of Ceremonies, Mark Cuddy, Artistic Director of the Geva Theatre Center, introduced the nominees.

Keynote speaker Tom Battley, Executive Director of the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster and New York Photonics, spoke on the history of photonics and optics in the Rochester area.

Left to Right: (1) Randy Fredlund, Chief Technology Officer, Vivid-Pix; (2) Gustavo Paz-Pujalt, CEO of Idealurgy; (3) Michael Kurdziel, Sr. Engineering Manager, Core Networking and Network Security Group, Harris Communications; (4) Laura Smalley, RIPLA Board Governor; (5) Charles Breidenstein, VP of Technology REDCOM Laboratories; (6) David Gervasi, Patent Agent, Xerox Corporation; (7) Eliud Robles Flores, Engineering Manager & Intellectual Property Champion, Xerox Corporation; (8) Zach Vader, Chief Innovation Officer, Vader Systems; (9) Scott Vader, CEO, Vader Systems; (10) Dr. Bruce Smith, Professor and Director, Microsystems Engineering, RIT; (11) Winner Terry Wright, Founder and CTO, ClearCove; (12) Rudi Fasan, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester; (13) Surya Moganty, Chief Technical Officer, NOHMs; and (14) RIPLA Board President Amit Singhal.
2017 Inventor of the Year media coverage:
Master of Ceremonies: Mark Cuddy, Artistic Director of Geva Theatre Center
Keynote Speaker: Tom Battley, New York Photonics
Click here to view the 2017 Inventor of the Year invitation
2017 Nominees
Roy S. Berns | Richard S. Hunter Professor in Color Science, Appearance, and Technology, Program of Color Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
Charles J. Breidenstein | Vice President Technology, REDCOM
Prof. Rudi Fasan | Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Rochester
Eliud Robles Flores and David J. Gervasi, Ph.D. | Engineering Integration Manager & IP Champion/Patent Agent, respectively, Xerox Corporation
Randy Fredlund | Chief Technology Officer, Vivid-Pix
Michael Kurdziel Ph.D., PE, PMP | Senior Engineering Manager, Core Networking and Network Security, Harris Corporation
Surya Moganty, Ph.D. | Chief Technology Officer, NOHMs
Dr. Mridula Nair | Advanced Materials & 3D Printing Technology Division, Eastman Kodak Company
Gustavo R. Paz-Pujalt, Ph.D. | Idealurgy
Professor Bruce W. Smith, Ph.D. | Director and Professor, Microsystems Engineering, Kate Gleason College of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology
Scott and Zack Vader | Co-Founders of Vader Systems
Victor Wong Ph.D. | Research and Innovation Laboratories, Carestream Health, Inc.
Terry Wright | Founder, Chief Technology Officer, ClearCove