As Ohio State continues to expand its role in the commercialization of research, it is important to create an environment that facilitates and rewards research creativity and entrepreneurship. To support and stimulate entrepreneurial activity among Ohio State researchers, several university-wide awards were presented on April 24, 2019, at the Research and Innovation Showcase hosted by the Office of Research and Corporate Engagement Office.
Katrina Cornish(middle) receives the Innovator of the Year award presented by Scott Osborne (left) Morley Stone (right).
Innovator of the Year
Katrina Cornish, PhD
Professor
Ohio Research Scholar/Endowed Chair, Bioemergent Materials
Department of Horticulture and Crop Science
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Katrina Cornish is the Endowed Chair and Ohio Research Scholar for Bioemergent Materials, and Technical Director of Ohio State’s Program of Excellence in Natural Rubber Alternatives. She is an internationally recognized expert and innovator in bioproducts, specifically in alternative natural rubber/latex crops and their processing and formulation technologies, as well is in valorization of wastes. She holds 25 issued or pending patents spanning a range of fields including transgenic enabling technologies, plant utility patents, process engineering, value added-materials, sustainable fillers and medical products and devices. She has invented processes to both fully mechanize developed world applications and address third-world low-tech practicalities. Dr. Cornish is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and founder and CEO of EnergyEne, Inc., as well as other startup companies. She holds a BSc in biological sciences, and a PhD in plant biology from the University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, England.
Download a high-res image of Katrina Cornish receiving the award
The Innovator of the Year and Early Career Innovator of the Year awards recognize Ohio State researchers who are actively working to promote commercialization of university intellectual property, through invention disclosures filed, patents applied for and/or received, technologies licensed or spin-off companies formed. The creation of separate categories for more established researchers and for early career researchers allows cultivation of an entrepreneurial spirit among all of our investigators.