Each year, the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame recognizes individuals with ties to Florida who have increased the quality of life for people. Since the hall was founded in 2013, it’s inducted 68 inventors who collectively hold more than 5,100 U.S. patents. This year, the ten inductees from around the state hold more than 1,100 U.S. patents. Three of those inductees have ties to the Orlando area. They are Dr. Jason Eichenholz, Dr. David Flinchbaugh and Daniel Jospeh and will be inducted October 6.
According to the press release sent by the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, below are descriptions of each of the three inventor’s achievements:
JASON EICHENHOLZ
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Luminar Technologies, Eichenholz is a serial entrepreneur and recognized trailblazer in laser and optics enabled innovations, product development and commercialization. His discoveries have led to advanced applications in science, environment, industry and medicine. Most notably, his innovations in Lidar are revolutionizing the self-driving vehicle industry. His advances in sensing technology will become the core platform to enable safe, fully-autonomous vehicles. Eichenholz holds 76 U.S. patents, many of which have been licensed and/or commercialized into a variety of applications from battlefield explosives detection and fundamental science discoveries to early cancer detection and environmental studies. He is a fellow of SPIE — the International Society for Optics and Photonics and a fellow of Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America).
DAVID FLINCHBAUGH
CEO of Technology Applications International, and CTO of Medventions Technologies, Flinchbaugh is a trained nuclear physicist, health physicist and prolific inventor across a number of scientific sectors. Among his leading inventions are: a) the UroCycler® which has been clinically proven to reduce 91 percent of fatal catheter-associated urinary tract infection; b) ROSA, the world’s first Nuclear Service Robot — a complex, high-tech robotic system for the maintenance, decontamination, and refueling of nuclear reactor electric power generation facilities; and c) the first Imaging laser radar system, among other breakthrough innovations. Flinchbaugh holds 11 U.S. patents and founded four Florida companies. He is a fellow of IEEE, Laser Institute of America, Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He also received the Medical Excellence Award, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation Award and the DaVinci Award.
DANIEL JOSEPH
Principal Special Effects Designer and Illusion Developer at Walt Disney Imagineering, Joseph’s has revolutionized modern design and implementation of special effects, transforming them into three-dimensional, immersive and interactive experiences. A trained industrial designer, Joseph’s advances in special effects have been created, designed and installed for Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Parks around the world. Most notably, he led the efforts to bring to life the Hatbox Ghost for the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary, as well as Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, Test Track, Magic Kingdom expansion, and both Trader Sam’s tiki bars, to name a few. Additionally, he has applied his industrial design to create interactive museum exhibits for such prestigious facilities as The Franklin Institute and consulted on product development for medical equipment to improve safety and usability. Joseph holds 30 U.S. patents. One of his design patents was featured in a PC Magazine article, "The Best Inventions of 2011 – So Far.”
For more information on the all the 2023 Florida Inventors inductees, visit this site: www.floridainvents.org/2023-inductees
Florida Road Trip Season 9 featured several inventors with Florida ties. You can watch that episode now on the PBS App.