California Inventor Wins Lemelson-MIT Prize

PORTLAND, Ore. — California inventor Elwood “Woody” Norris has been named to receive the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize this year to honor technology he developed to focus sound over long distances.

Norris, founder and chairman of American Technology Corp. in San Diego, holds 47 patents, including one covering his invention of hypersonic sound technology.

The largest cash award for U.S. inventors will be presented for the first time in Portland in a ceremony Friday evening at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

The Lemelson-MIT Prize Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology administers the award, which began after Jerome H. Lemelson, the holder of more than 550 patents, and his wife, Dorothy, established the Lemelson Foundation in the 1990s to fund programs that promote invention and entrepreneurship.

Lemelson, who died in 1997, obtained patents on inventions including bar code readers, machine vision and toys such as the crying baby doll. His inventions made their way into computer hard drives, fax machines, automated teller machines and Sony Walkman portable music players.

Three years ago, the foundation moved its headquarters to Portland. Dorothy Lemelson and her sons Eric and Robert and their wives serve on the board of directors.

The hypersonic sound technology invented by Norris has a variety of potential uses in autos, grocery stores, airports, museums and fast-food restaurants.

For example, it could be used in laptop speakers to focus music to the person in front of the screen without others hearing it.

The technology also could be used in cars so that one CD player emits sound for parents in the front seat and another player targets sound for children in the back.

Norris was featured Sunday in a segment on the CBS news show “60 Minutes” about a personal flying craft that he invented called the AirScooter. Norris’ prototype “flying car” has been described as a cross between a Ferrari and a Batmobile, CBS reported.

Previous winners of the 11-year-old prize include Douglas Engelbart, who invented the computer mouse; Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transporter; and Leroy Hood, whose DNA sequencer made the Human Genome Project possible.