Click on the names below to view biographies and photos of the 2003 recipients
- Dr. J. Clair Batty
- David Bowles
- Fred Lampropoulos
- Jerry Miller
- Brett D. Moulding
- Virginia Ord
- William Smith
- Ashok Joshi
- Carl Wittwer
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
May 21, 2003
Contact: Tracie Cayford, (801) 538-8777
Darrell Kirby, (801) 538-8812
UTAH SCIENTISTS, RESEARCHERS RECEIVE GOVERNOR’S AWARDS
Nine scientists, researchers, and teachers in Utah have been honored for their accomplishments in their respective fields of science and technology. Each has received the 17th-annual Governor’s Medal Award for Science and Technology in recognition of his or her “career achievements and/or distinguished service that has benefited the state in areas of science and technology.” Awardees were also selected in part for the significance of their contributions on the economic development of the state. Award recipients were chosen by members of the state Advisory Council on Science and Technology based on nominations submitted to the council for calendar year 2002. The Governor’s Medal Awards for Science and Technology are a cooperative effort of the governor’s office and the state science advisor in the Department of Community and
Economic Development. The awards were initiated in 1987 to recognize Utahns who have made career achievements and/or provided distinguished service that has benefited the state in the areas of science and technology.
The winners are as follows:
Government
Jerry Miller – A water quality scientist with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Miller authored a book on reservoir water-quality modeling. His work has also included the development of a plan to use the Jordanelle Dam in Summit County to help restore water quality in Deer Creek Reservoir and the Provo River. The project is considered unique in river/reservoir management.
Brett Moulding – He is the science education specialist and curriculum coordinator and for the Utah State Office of Education. Moulding spearheaded the rewrite of the state’s public school science core curriculum, which the U.S. Department of Education has recognized as exemplary.
Science Education
Virginia Ord – She taught middle school science for two decades in Davis County and was involved in curriculum and professional development for district teachers. She was the lead writer for a national water education curriculum, “Project Wet,” and was coauthor of a science textbook used statewide in the 1980’s. She is a past president of the Utah Science Teachers Association.
William Smith – Over a career of nearly 25 years, he taught science classes at Kearns High School and as chairman of the science department at Hunter High School in West Valley City. Smith has received several teaching awards and has overseen science education in the Granite School District, where he is credited with engineering a model laboratory classroom where teachers can observe and learn to incorporate the best instructional practices.
Academia
J. Clair Batty – He is a trustee professor and head of the department of mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Utah State University. He is credited with a number of research breakthroughs ranging from the rate at which space vehicles would burn upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere to the anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste. Batty has helped attract nearly $100 million in grants and other funding for engineering programs for satellites. His teaching and mentoring have helped produce more than 60 masters and doctoral students during his career.
David Bowles – He has served on the faculty at the Utah Water Research Laboratory and
and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University. Bowles developed and improved a state-of-the-art dam safety risk assessment that saved millions of dollars in dam retrofitting costs, while significantly reducing the risk of loss of life and property damage caused by dam failure.
Carl Wittwer – He is currently vice president of ARUP Laboratories in Salt Lake City, where he also helped establish the clinical molecular pathology laboratory. Wittwer was a faculty member at the University of Utah’s Department of Pathology and became a leader in the translation of molecular biology into the practice of laboratory medicine. His research with polymerase chain reaction technology gave the field of molecular diagnostics rapid polymerase chain reaction, cutting processing times from four hours to 20 minutes.
Industry
Ashok Joshi – A native of India, Joshi founded the first button cell battery development and manufacturing company in that country and then returned to the United States, where he had earlier earned his Ph.D. at Northwestern University. He joined Ceramatec, Inc., a spinoff company from the University of Utah. The company is internationally known for the development of ionic technologies and devices such as solid oxide fuel cells. He is the author of more than 70 patents in the company’s portfolio.
Fred Lampropoulos – He is founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Merit Medical Systems in Salt Lake City. He is co-inventor of more than 70 patented products and technologies and led the development of a digital syringe inflation system that enhanced the safety and ease of procedures for detecting and treating blockages in heart arteries. Merit has developed and marketed 2,000 products throughout the world.