R&D 100 Awards Categories
View 2009 R&D 100 Winners by Category
The R&D 100 winners represent a broad range of technologies—from microwave transmitters for space data transmission—to digital cameras for use on Earth—to new, environmentally-friendly fabrics. The technologies were developed by industrial enterprises, government laboratories, university research facilities from around the world.
For reader convenience, the winners are arranged by category. Select a category to view learn more about the winners.
Or, you can search the archives to locate specific winning products, companies, and developers.
Analytical Instruments
One of the best ways to learn about the composition of a liquid, solid, or gas is to separate chemical components and measure mass, spectral properties, or other characteristics.
Beam Instruments
Simply by scattering away from a material, projected light of different wavelengths, including x-rays or infrared light, can reveal valuable information about a material's makeup.
General Lab Equipment
Successful laboratories are not the domain of specialized instruments alone. Generalized equipment can be crucial to development of other technologies.
Bioscience
The impact of technology on health has been and continues to be profound. New technologies ranging from gene therapy to lab-on-a-chip solutions are transforming the way we live.
Electrical Devices
Electrical devices run a wide gamut from computing to power supply to test and measurement equipment. The unifying principle is the use of electricity to enable creative solutions.
Electrical Equipment
Our world depends on efficient control of electrical resources. Innovative devices or systems are necessary to manage the complex and ever-evolving energy grid.
Software
Scientific software is now inseparable from most R&D efforts. Continuously evolving, these virtual solutions are capable of delivering real answers to some of our most complex and daunting questions.
Communications
As demand for rapid, reliable global communication accelerates, so too does the innovation required to keep pace. This category represents fiber optics, silicon photonics, wireless solutions and more.
Energy Devices
Energy is an unsurprisingly busy field of R&D, giving rise to creative solutions including nanostructured batteries, novel solar cells, and unusual fuels.
Safety Equipment
Today's metrics of performance are inseparable from issues of safety. Managing risk is crucial to services and industry alike, and demand creative solutions.
Environmental Sciences
Technology is not without its complications, and the ability to help people without hurting the environment is often dependent on innovative solutions that reduce waste or toxins.
Metals & Materials
Materials science helps us develop the building blocks of next generation buildings, cars, bridges…pretty much whatever we choose to make. Many of the newest metals and materials processing techniques
Microscopy
A central tool for so many labs and industries, the microscope has continued its evolution and diversification, pushing beyond the microscale and well into the nanoscale.
Lasers and Electro-optics
Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation--and the many related optically-enabled light technologies--is useful in medicine, manufacturing, high-level R&D and consumer devices.
Mechanical Devices
From wheel bearings to robots, the field of mechanics is open to continued innovation. Strides in computing and automation have helped us build astonishingly complex mechanical devices.
Process Sciences
A greater understanding of the fundamental properties of materials and their thermodynamics have brought about a wealth of idea in industrial processing, where efficiency is crucial.
Thermal Devices/Systems
Industries as varied as semiconductors and plastics rely on thermal solutions to help manufacture their products.
Thin-Film Systems
The ability of thin layers of materials to impart their unique properties over a wide area is the foundation of many important products.
Consumer Products
Not every revolutionary innovation recognized by R&D is intended for the lab or factory. Some have already found their way into consumers' hands.