Faculty in the College of Engineering are making their inventions available to the world, and the college is honoring their efforts.

Nine faculty members were recently honored for receiving patents. Their inventions earned patents between July 1995 and July 1996, said David Holger, associate dean of engineering.

“The banquet was a way to encourage people to do applied engineering research,” Holger said. “We felt we weren’t honoring these inventors.”

Karl Gschneidner, a distinguished professor in materials science and engineering, was one of the honored inventors.

His invention, Lanthanide Al-Ni Base Ericsson Cycle Magnetic Refrigerants, received a patent this year.

The invention is used to liquefy hydrogen gas at about 20 degrees Kelvin. It works “something like a refrigerator,” Gschneidner said. By first applying a magnetic field, the lanthanide Al-Ni alloy heats up. The heat is then “thrown away,” and the alloy is cooled down, which liquefies the gas at extreme temperatures.

The device could have varying uses within industry. “There are niches where this might work better than another material,” Gschneidner said.

“Oil refineries many times have an excess of hydrogen but usually burn it. We could put the magnetic refrigerator right by the refinery, liquefy the excess hydrogen and store it.”

Gschneidner said he doesn’t normally go looking for inventions during his research. “Basically, we’re trying to understand and improve our scientific basis,” he said.

“This invention actually resulted in a company contacting us and saying, ‘We need better magnetic refrigeration materials,'” he said.

Gschneidner spends most of his time conducting research. He taught in the materials science and engineering department until two years ago, when he decided to devote his time to research.

The majority of the honored faculty, however, are actively teaching, Holger said.

The patent for the magnetic refrigerant was Gschneidner’s seventh. He has received three patents in the last two years and has submitted several new inventions that will probably be patented within the next two years.

Other faculty receiving patents were Iver Anderson, materials science and engineering adjunct professor, for Method of Making Bonded or Sintered Permanent Magnets, and Pb-free Sn-Ag-Cu Ternary Eutectic Solder; Robert C. Brown, chemical and mechanical engineering professor, for Latent Heat-Ballasted Gasifer Method.

Joseph Gray, mechanical engineering adjunct assistant professor, for Integrated Energy-Sensitive and Position-Sensitive X-ray Detection System; Marwan Hassoun, electrical and computer engineering associate professor, for Individual Descriptive Record System; Jim Oliver, mechanical engineering associate professor, for Sculptured Surface Synthesis Based on Functional Design Constraints.

Joshua Otaigbe, materials science and engineering assistant professor, for Sealing Frit Pastes; Steve Russell, electrical and computer engineering associate professor, for Direct-Sequence Spread-Spectrum Ultrasonic Testing Device; and Robert Weber, electrical and computer engineering, for Optical Modulator Device using a Thin Film Resonator, Individual Descriptive Record System, and Non-Crystalline Silicon Active Device for Large-Scale Digital and Analog Networks. 24 inventors in all have been recognized by the college this year.