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WASHINGTON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 400 constituents of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) will convene in Washington, D.C. on April 4-6 for the Seventh Annual Conference of the NAI. The conference will feature keynote speeches by Ronald M. Evans, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies; David J. Skorton, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; Gilda A. Barabino, dean of the City College of New York and president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering; and Andrew H. Hirshfeld, U.S. Commissioner for Patents. The meeting will also include the NAI's second annual Student Innovation Showcase.

The theme of the NAI's seventh annual conference is "Exploring the Intersections of Innovation," and the program features presentations on topics such as Intersection of Innovation and the Future, Intersection of Ideas and Entrepreneurship, and Intersection of Academia, Government, and Industry. Presenters include NAI members and Fellows as well as university leaders, government officials, and student innovators.

"Our nation's capital provides a fitting backdrop as we explore the intersections of academia, industry, and government in the innovation space," said NAI President Paul R. Sanberg. "The conference program engages with these wide-ranging facets of academic invention through timely panels and presentations, the induction of the newest class of NAI Fellows, and the Student Innovation Showcase. I look forward to three days of networking and learning with our attendees, while honoring the amazing accomplishments of our members."

The NAI will induct the newest class of Fellows on April 5 at the Mayflower Hotel, Autograph Collection, where Hirshfeld will deliver a keynote address.

"I am honored to join the NAI as the annual conference returns to Washington for another year of insightful programming," Hirshfeld said. "The NAI has initiated an exciting dialogue on academic innovation that continues to gain momentum. I look forward to recognizing the next class of NAI Fellows and their substantial contributions in academic discovery and innovation which improve our quality of life and influence the next generation of thought leaders."

Collectively, the Fellows hold more than 32,000 issued U.S. patents, which have generated more than 9,400 licensed technologies and companies and created more than 1.3 million jobs. In addition, over $137 billion in revenue has been generated based on NAI Fellow discoveries. Among all NAI Fellows there are over 100 presidents and senior leaders of research universities and non-profit research institutes, more than 440 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 37 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 52 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation and U.S. National Medal of Science, and 29 Nobel Laureates, among other awards and distinctions.

The meeting will conclude with NAI's Student Innovation Showcase. The showcase, in its second year, offers a unique platform for students to demonstrate world-changing inventions to the highest caliber of innovators. Six interdisciplinary student teams from prestigious research universities, including The George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, University of South Florida, University of Southern California, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Worcester Polytechnic University have been invited to exhibit their inventions to a panel of prolific inventors.

"As both an inventor and administrator, I cannot overemphasize the importance of fostering young inventors throughout their academic trajectories," said Helena Wisniewski, vice provost for research & graduate studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage, NAI Fellow, and Student Innovation Showcase judge. "I am delighted to see the NAI continue to engage its network of prominent academic inventors to support the next generation of innovators, and I look forward to serving as a judge for the Student Innovation Showcase."

A detailed agenda is available at http://www.academyofinventors.org/conference/docs/2018-nai-conference-preliminary-agenda.pdf. Invited papers from the conference will be published in the NAI journal Technology and Innovation. To learn more about Technology and Innovation, visit http://www.academyofinventors.org/ti/.

About the National Academy of Inventors
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 4,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 250 institutions worldwide. Our mission is to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the USPTO, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. Learn more at www.academyofinventors.org.

SOURCE National Academy of Inventors