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National Medal of Science Les lauréats du Cinquantenaire de la "National Medal of Science" Le 7 octobre 2009, lors d’une cérémonie à la Maison Blanche, le Président Obama remettra à neuf chercheurs la "National Medal of Science", et à quatre inventeurs et une entreprise la "National Medal of Technology and Innovation". Ces récompenses couronnent les meilleurs scientifiques, ingénieurs et inventeurs de l’année 2008 dans les domaines des sciences biologiques, des sciences du comportement, des sciences physiques, de la chimie, de l’ingénierie, de l’informatique et des mathématiques. Créée par un décret du Congrès en 1959, la "National Medal of Science" est administrée pour la Maison Blanche, par la "National Science Foundation". Chaque année, la médaille nationale de la science récompense les individus pour leurs contributions remarquables en science et en ingénierie. Elle fut décernée pour la première fois en 1963, par le President John F. Kennedy, à Theodore Von Karman, pour ses travaux en ingénierie aéronautique au "California Institute of Technology". Les lauréats 2008 de la "National Medal of Science" sont : – Berni Alder, professeur émérite en sciences appliquées à l’Université de Californie – Davis, et consultant pour l"Institute for Scientific Computing Research" au "Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory". Il est l’inventeur de la technique de simulation dynamique moléculaire, et est lauréat du prix Boltzmann en 2001. – Francis Collins, directeur des "National Institutes of Health" (Maryland). Il fut directeur du "National Human Genome Research Institute" (NHGRI) de 1993 à 2008. Il a reçu en 2007 la "Presidential Medal of Freedom" pour ses recherches en génétique. – Joanna Fowler, directrice du programme "Radiotracer Chemistry, Instrumentation and Biological Imaging" au sein de l’"U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory", (New York). Elle est lauréate du "National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences" en 2009, pour ses travaux en imagerie biomédicale. – Elaine Fuchs, chef du "Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development" à l’Université Rockefeller (New York). Elle a reçu le "Bering Award" et le "FASEB Excellence in Science Award" en 2006, pour ses travaux en histologie de la peau. – James Gunn, professeur d’astronomie à l’Université de Princeton (New Jersey). Ses travaux concernent l’amélioration des outils d’observation et de détection des étoiles. Il est lauréat du prix Crafoord en 2005 et du "Gold Medal" de la "Royal Astronomical Society" de Londres en 1994. – Rudolf Kalman, professeur émérite à l’Institut fédéral suisse de technologie (Zurich). Théoricien des systèmes mathématiques, et co-inventeur du filtre Kalman utilisé en avionique, en traitement du signal et en apprentissage automatique. Il a reçu le "NAE Charles Stark Draper Prize" en 2008. – Michael Posner, professeur émérite à l’Université de l’Oregon et professeur à mi- temps au "Weill Medical College" à l’Institut Sackler (New York). Il est reconnu par ses pairs pour ses contributions théoriques et empiriques dans l’étude des fonctions cognitives. Il étudie actuellement le développement des réseaux neuronaux intervenant dans les mécanismes de l’attention. – JoAnne Stubbe, professeur de biochimie au "Massachusetts Institute of Technology". Ses recherches concernent les mécanismes enzymatiques impliqués dans la réplication et la réparation de l’ADN. Elle a reçu le "Nakanishi Award" en 2009, le "National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences" et le "Kaiser Award" en 2008. – J. Craig Venter, président du J. Craig Venter Institute. Fondateur de l’"Institute for Genomic Research" et de Celera Genomics, c’est un pionnier de la génomique et l’inventeur du séquençage génomique massif. Il travaille actuellement sur les organismes synthétiques biologiques. Créée en 1980, la "National Medal of Technology and Innovation" récompense annuellement les individus, les équipes, les entreprises qui ont contribué par leurs avancées technologiques au développement économique et environnemental des Etats-Unis. Elle fut décernée pour la première fois en 1985, notamment à Steven P. Jobs and Stephen Wozniak pour le développement et l’introduction de l’ordinateur personnel (Apple). Les lauréats 2008 de la "National Medal of Technology and Innovation" sont : – Forrest M. Bird, aviateur et ingénieur biomédical. Il a inventé le système de ventilation à haute fréquence par percussion, utilisé dans les soins cardio- pulmonaires. La société Percussionnaire Corporation (Idaho) fabrique et distribue les produits conçus par le Dr Bird. – Esther Sans Takeuchi, professeur d’ingénierie biomédicale à l’"University at Buffalo, SUNY" (New York). Elle a développé la technologie de piles lithium/argent- oxyde de vanadium qui fournissent de l’énergie à la majorité des défibrillateurs cardiaques implantables aujourd’hui, ce qui a amélioré la qualité de vie de milliers d’individus. – John E. Warnock et Charles M. Geschke, informaticiens, cofondateurs d’Adobe Systems Inc., en 1982. Cette société est un éditeur de logiciels informatiques de création et de traitement de l’information (format de document pdf, logiciel Photoshop…). – Société IBM, entreprise présente dans les domaines du matériel informatique, du logiciel et des services informatiques (New York). Elle compte plus de 380.000 employés. Elle est récompensée pour sa famille de superordinateurs "Blue Gene", qui offrent les plus hautes performances en informatique. "Les scientifiques, les ingénieurs et les inventeurs lauréats sont des icônes nationales, qui incarnent le meilleur de l’ingéniosité américaine et inspirent une nouvelle génération de penseurs et d’innovateurs", a déclaré le président Barack Obama. "Leurs réalisations extraordinaires renforcent les Etats-Unis tous les jours, non seulement intellectuellement et technologiquement, mais aussi économiquement, en aidant à créer de nouvelles industries et opportunités que d’autres n’auraient jamais pu imaginer avant eux". Source : – "President Honors Nation’s Top Scientists and Innovators" – National Science Foundation – 18/09/2009 : https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=115622&org=NSF&from=news – "Secretary Locke Joins President Obama in Announcing the 2008 National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureates" – United States Patent and Trademark Office – 17/09/2009 : https://www.uspto.gov/main/homepagenews/2009sep17.htm Pour en savoir plus, contacts : – Sur la "National Medal of Science" : https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100684 – Sur la "National Medal of Technology and Innovation" : https://www.uspto.gov/nmti/ Code brève ADIT : 60620 Rédacteur : Alexandre Touvat, [email protected].
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