WASHINGTON, April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Academy of Inventors will celebrate its fifth annual conference by returning to Washington, D.C., Apr. 14-15, 2016. The conference will feature keynote speeches by Andrew Hirshfeld, U.S. Commissioner for Patents and Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine and NAI Fellow.

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The theme of the NAI's fifth conference is "Building on Foundations of Innovation" to explore the interaction between the United States' history of change and the modern culture and leadership of innovation. 

Keynote speeches by Cristin Dorgelo, chief of staff for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Emery Brown, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NAI Fellow, along with presentations and panels on innovation by more than 35 prolific scientists and academic leaders, round out the conference program.

Highlights also include a signature gala at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and the induction of the 2015 Fellows of the NAI—the conference's closing event—at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with a keynote address by Hirshfeld.

"It is a pleasure to commemorate the Academy's milestone fifth annual meeting by welcoming the NAI back to Washington," said Hirshfeld. "I look forward to recognizing the new distinguished class of NAI Fellows. These true champions of academic invention have made tremendous contributions to society through their amazing innovations."

With the induction of the 2015 class, the 582 elected Fellows now represent more than 190 research institutions and collectively hold more than 20,000 issued U.S. patents. The Fellows include more than 80 presidents and senior leaders of research universities and non-profit research institutes, 310 members of the three branches of the National Academy of Sciences, 27 Nobel Laureates, 27 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 36 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation and U.S. National Medal of Science, 14 Lemelson-MIT prize recipients, 170 AAAS Fellows, and 98 IEEE Fellows among other awards and distinctions.

"It has been gratifying to see the remarkable growth of the NAI and our annual conference in just six short years," said Paul R. Sanberg, president and Charter Fellow of the NAI. "It is a privilege to have NAI members, Fellows and partners who are passionate about furthering a culture of academic innovation and we look forward to sharing this mission for many years to come."

A detailed agenda is available at http://academyofinventors.org/conference/program.asp.  Invited papers from the conference will be published in the NAI journal Technology and Innovation. 

About the National Academy of Inventors

The National Academy of Inventors is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 3,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 200 institutions, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. The NAI publishes the multidisciplinary journal, Technology and Innovation, Journal of the National Academy of Inventors. www.AcademyofInventors.org

Media Contact:          
Keara Leach, National Academy of Inventors
Email
904-556-9319

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SOURCE National Academy of Inventors

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