King Wins 2007 R&D100 Award

7/3/2012 By Kathryne L. Heine

William KingA revolutionary product based on a nanoscale thermal analysis technique developed by MechSE Professor William King has been selected to receive a 2007 R&D100 award from R&D Magazine, the magazine of research and development.

Written by By Kathryne L. Heine

William P. King
William P. King
William King
A revolutionary product based on a nanoscale thermal analysis technique developed by MechSE Professor William King has been selected to receive a 2007 R&D100 award from R&D Magazine, the magazine of research and development. A panel of industry experts appointed by Research and Development magazine called the nano-TATM sub-100nm local thermal analysis product “one of the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year.”

Nanoscale thermal analysis enables the study of thermal properties at sub-100 nanometer resolution—50 times better than that achieved by state-of-the-art techniques. The product, made by Anasys Instruments Corp., fills a critical need in the study of polymer blends and thin films where lack of thermal analysis below a few microns in resolution has always been a major bottleneck.

“This is a well-deserved award for the nano-TA,” said Jiping Ye, Head of Material Characterization at Nissan Analytical Research in Yokohama, Japan. “It enables us to overcome one of the fundamental obstacles facing AFM [Atomic Force Microscope] users, namely the inability of the AFM to obtain quantitative property information on the sample.”

The R&D 100 Awards were established in 1963 by the forerunner of today's R&D Magazine. Each year, technical experts and the magazine's editors evaluate entries looking for products and processes that are the most "technologically significant" and can improve people's lives. The 2007 awards go to developers of products released in 2007. Past winners have included the developers of the automated teller machine (1973), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), and HDTV (1998).

The R&D100 Award is the second major recognition for Anasys Instruments Corp. since its founding in 2005. King, the company’s scientific cofounder, was named by MIT to the TR-35 for his nanoscale thermal probe breakthrough, one of the most important scientific developments of 2006.


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This story was published July 3, 2012.