Reporter Volume 25, No.18 February 24, 1994

 By ELLEN GOLDBAUM
News Bureau Staff
Twenty-six inventors who are on the UB faculty were honored at a
reception Feb. 17 in the Center for Tomorrow. UB faculty members
received a total of 15 patents this year, the highest number ever for
the university in a single year. The inventors are authors or
co-authors of United States patents that were received in 1993,
according to Kathleen R. Terry, director of technology transfer at UB.

	 Provost Aaron N. Bloch presented awards recognizing their
achievements as inventors of patented devices, materials or drugs.
	The UB faculty members are:
	Stephen P. Warunek, research assistant professor of
biomaterials, and Soren E. Sorenson, professor emeritus of
biomaterials, inventors of a new, more comfortable and more adherent
material for use in dental prosthesis linings.
	Stanley Bruckenstein, A. Conger Goodyear professor of
chemistry, inventor of a self-correcting device that measures the
charging current of an electrochemical cell while experiments are
being conducted. 
	Joseph Gardella, professor of chemistry, and Terrence Vargo,
research assistant professor of chemistry, inventors of a process that
lets scientists deposit metals on nonstick surfaces, like Teflon,
while leaving the surface intact.
	Stephen J. Free, associate professor of biological sciences,
inventor of a system that allows for the regulated production of
recombinant proteins.
	Thomas Bardos, professor of medicinal chemistry, inventor of a
drug that has demonstrated efficacy against the HIV virus that causes
AIDS.
	Walter D. Conway, associate professor of medicinal chemistry,
inventor of a machine that purifies and separates materials in one
continuous coil.
	Joseph C. Mollendorf, professor of mechanical and aerospace
engineering, and William Macy and Kenneth Peeble , laboratory
equipment designers, inventors of a wheelchair attachment that allows
patients increased mobility and an opportunity to exercise their arms
and legs.
	Ralph Yang, chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering,
inventor of a process that removes sulfur oxides from flue gases,
reducing acid rain.
	Raj S. Acharya, associate professor; David Benenson,
professor; Victor Demjanenko, assistant professor, and Mehrdad
Soumekh, associate professor, all of the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, and Andres Soom, professor and chair of the
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, inventors of an
apparatus and software combination that can detect signs of trouble in
machines, primarily circuit-breaker failure.
	Sargur Srihari, director of the Center of Excellence for
Document Analysis and Recognition and professor of computer science;
Paul Palumbo, research scientist in computer science; Demjanenko;
Ramalingam Sridhar, assistant professor of electrical and computer
engineering, and Yong-Chul Shin, a computer science doctoral student,
inventors of a computer memory unit that accesses stored computer data
without having to consult an index first.
	Donald Hickey, research assistant professor of physiology,
inventor of a non-invasive method and new apparatus for measuring
blood pressure inside the left atrium of the heart.
	Harold L. Cohen, professor of medicine and director of the
Health in Housing Project, inventor of an insect trap for killing the
insect that is the carrier of Chagas' disease, a debilitating illness
in Central and South America.
	Michael K. Landi, M.D. candidate, and Robert M. Lifeso,
associate professor of orthopaedics, inventors of a system that
improves surgeons' ability to insert rods to stabilize bone fractures
while decreasing X-ray exposure and patient time under anesthesia.