SoE Research Team to Receive Prestigious Edison Patent Award

School of Engineering researchers comprise one of two Rutgers teams selected to receive the Research and Development Council of New Jersey (RDNJ) 2026 Edison Patent Award, the state's highest recognition for inventors and innovation. The teams, representing the fifth consecutive year where two Rutgers groups were chosen, will be recognized with other winners at a ceremony and banquet in November. 

SoE's team, led by assistant research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Thomas Nosker, will be honored with the Industrial Processes award for "Methods for increasing toughness of immiscible polymer blends," patent (U.S. 8,497,324).

Known as structural plastic lumber, the invention is a material made from milk containers, coffee cups, and other recycled plastics, used to produce approximately 1.5 million railway ties in the United States alone, translating to nearly 300 million pounds of plastic that would otherwise end up in landfills or oceans.

"Thomas Edison is arguably the most successful innovator that ever lived in America, and it is a great honor to receive the prestigious award named for him," says Nosker, whose team featured assistant teaching professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering Jennifer Lynch-Branzoi, and materials science and engineering colleagues: professor Richard Lehman; the late professor emeritus James Idol; the late professor Richard Renfree; and Maryann Renfree.

"Early materials we developed had the stiffness and strength required in use, but the installation of those products (railway ties, in particular) exceeded the actual use requirements, leading to a small percentage of the products breaking upon installation," Nosker explains. "We changed the processing slightly, which increased the toughness by three to four times, which solved the problem. This was an important innovation, and we are proud that it received an Edison Patent Award."

Adds Lynch-Branzoi,"I am honored to receive the Edison Patent Award, named after a prolific inventor whose innovations and technologies changed our world. Our innovation is revolutionary in that it uses material science processing techniques to produce unique morphologies that provide superior mechanical properties for polymer composites. The impact of the innovation is long-lasting, as any outdoor structure built with these materials will still be in use in another 250 years."

"This amazing high-level recognition from RDNJ is a career-affirming event," says Lehman. "Our invention is a critical advance in the development of cost-effective polymer composite technologies, by enabling low-cost polymer/polymer composites to be synthesized with advanced properties, particularly stiffness and toughness, in a scalable material and process duality that has enabled engineering applications that were not previously possible."

Rutgers' Office for Research, through its Technology Transfer unit supported Nosker's research team and that of fellow recipient, Ziming Guo, distinguished professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, whose project "Molluscan shellfish produced by controlled crossbreeding" patent (U.S. 11,266,131) earned the Aquaculture award. 

"Through our Technology Transfer team," says Michael E. Zwick, senior vice president for Research at Rutgers, "the Rutgers Office for Research has been privileged to help advance these discoveries by protecting the intellectual property, supporting commercialization efforts, and connecting these innovations with industry partners so they can deliver meaningful benefits beyond the laboratory."

"Our team diligently works with Rutgers researchers like these every day," adds Deborah Perez Fernandez, PhD, MBA, executive Director of Technology Transfer, "and we are excited to see what innovations they develop next."

To learn more about the Rutgers technology transfer process, visit innovate.rutgers.edu.