UNC took a chance on Professor Joseph DeSimone. Best. Decision. Ever.
The University nearly passed on interviewing him for a faculty position because he didn’t have postdoctoral experience. What he did have was vision, imagination, creativity, charisma and the desire to do something that had never been done before.
A few of DeSimone’s accomplishments:
- Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry at UNC
- William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University and of Chemistry in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences
- Invented PRINT (Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates) technology in 2005, which enables the fabrication of precisely defined, shape-specific nanoparticles for advances in disease treatment and prevention.
- Launched Liquidia Technologies based on PRINT
- Created CLIP (Continuous Liquid Interface Production) which redefined 3D printing technology to fabricate objects significantly faster than traditional 3D printing
- Launched Carbon3D, in Silicon Valley, to develop CLIP
- In 2005, DeSimone’s work led to the creation of the Carolina Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, a ten-year, $40 million initiative based at UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Awarded inaugural Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine for PRINT
- Developed breakthrough materials for bioabsorbable cardiac stents for heart disease
- National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipient in 2016, nation’s highest honor for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology
- Awarded Lemelson-MIT Prize for innovations in polymer chemistry (Oscar for Inventors)
- Elected to all three branches of the National Academies: The National Academy of Engineering (elected in 2005), The National Academy of Sciences (elected in 2012) and The National Academy of Medicine (elected in 2014)
- Elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2013
- Received the 2017 Heinz Award in the Technology in the Economy and Employment category
- Received the 2010 AAAS Mentor Award in recognition of his efforts to advance diversity in the chemistry and chemical engineering Ph.D. workforce
- Received the 2018 NAS Award for Convergent Research
- Has more than 350 publications and holds more than 200 patents with another 200 pending
Read the complete Carolina Story
This is story number 208 in the Carolina Stories 225th Anniversary Edition magazine.
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