Summer 2016 EditionAlumni & Friends Magazine
Bobcat innovators earn Konneker Medal
Have you ever wondered how you could turn frozen bananas into a healthy snack? Do you seek to understand the latest innovations in proton therapy?
By McKenzie Powell, BSJ '16, BA '16 | June 7, 2016
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“I think working with people, networking, finding the right people, knowing your strengths, knowing your weaknesses—all those communication skills are critical for being an entrepreneur and building a team around you that fits together,” Winston Breeden III (left) told Tom Hodson, BSJ ’70, director and general manager of WOUB Center for Public Media, during an interview. Photo by Margaret Sabec, MA ’17
The 2015 Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship awardees, Winston Breeden III and Joseph Jachinowski, addressed those questions about their respective inventions during a visit to the Athens Campus in February. Both were presented with their medal at the Ohio University’s Inventors Dinner during their visit.
Chief Executive Officer Breeden, BSC ’93, of Winston Products, LLC in Cleveland, Ohio, received a Konneker Medal for product development, while Jachinowski, BSEE ’79, with Mevion Medical Systems of Littleton, Massachusetts, earned the prize for innovations in cancer therapy. Jachinowski also serves on board of directors of Mevion Medical Systems.
“Through the development of innovative ideas and products and the pursuit of new scientific and medical discoveries, Ohio University faculty, staff, students, and alumni are making important contributions to society,” said Joseph Shields, vice president for research and creative activity and dean of OHIO’s Graduate College, in a previous press release. “The 2015 Konneker Medal recipients demonstrate how our former students are uniting ingenuity and entrepreneurship to devise creative solutions to a wide range of issues.”
The Inventors Dinner recognized 78 Bobcat faculty, staff, and student creators who have filed for a patent, received a patent, or revealed a new invention in areas as diverse as pipeline corrosion mitigation to roadway filtration systems that remove pollutants from waterways.
The Ohio University Foundation established the Konneker Medal in honor of Wilfred Konneker, BS ’43, MS ’47, who was a stalwart OHIO supporter, entrepreneur, and researcher. Konneker (1922-2016) founded OHIO’s Innovation Center in Athens and Nuclear Consultants Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri, and was either the founder or co-founder of six additional high-tech start-up companies.
