The iCON Awards are excited to announce The Field Museum as the venue for the 2011 event.
Join us on October 6, 2011 for an evening of inspiration, excitement and celebration as we recognize leaders in education, research and training in the Illinois life sciences.
Sponsorships are still available for the 2011 iCON Awards Dinner. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, click HERE.
The iCON Award was developed to recognize the important role of education, research and training in fostering growth and in building the next generation of Midwest biotechnology and life sciences innovators and leaders. This award celebrates the achievements of leaders who nurture education, training and scholarship in the life sciences in Illinois.
iCON Knowledge Builder Award recognizes annually an individual who demonstrates exemplary teaching at the Grade 6-12 level, and who has positively impacted students’ understanding of biotechnology’s promise and challenges. This educator also serves as a model for colleagues on how to incorporate biotechnology into the classroom and acts as a resource to peers.
2011 iCON Knowledge Builder Award Recipient
Katherine M. Konyar
Wheeling High SchoolKatherine M. Konyar graduated from the University of Illinois in 1988, with a degree in Science Education. Ms. Konyar received her M.A. from Northern Illinois University in Curriculum and Instruction in 1998. With over 23 years of experience, Ms. Konyar currently is a secondary science teacher at Wheeling High School.
Searching for innovative ways to stretch the abilities of her students, Ms. Konyar was led to incorporate biotechnology into her curriculum. Her education in biotechnology began in 1993, when she participated in a biotechnology training program through the University of Illinois, funded by the National Science Foundation. A strong passion for continued education in the newest technologies led Ms. Konyar to participate in the iBIO Institute’s TalentSparks! Workshop, National Biotechnology Teacher-Leader Program through the Biotechnology Institute and many other unique opportunities.
In 1994, Ms. Konyar was named one of the Top Ten Illinois Secondary Science Teachers by ISTA, for her efforts to bring her students into the field to monitor the Des Plaines River. Within Township High District 214, she has worked consistently in staff development, sustaining roles ranging from University of Illinois student teacher supervision to leadership in Professional Learning Communities. Her classroom and extracurricular activities have been rewarded with a number of in-district awards. In 2007, she was honored as a Golden Apple Foundation Finalist, nominated by a former student.
Ms. Konyar strives continually to grow as an educator, seeking out new technologies and instructional methodologies in science education, implementing what she learns with her curricular team. Her recent involvement with the Illinois Innovation Talent Program led over 300 Wheeling High School students to a successful partnership with Abbott Laboratories investigating biomarkers and interacting with Abbott scientists. Ms. Konyar is currently a member of the BIOSTEM steering committee through the iBIO Institute.
To learn more about the iCON Knowledge Builder Award, click HERE.
iCON Innovator Award recognizes an active researcher/scientist within the ranks of life sciences education who is acknowledged by his or her peers as a leader in the contemporary teaching of and scholarship in biotechnology and its related sciences. The award also recognizes those scientists who demonstrate leadership potential at the frontier of knowledge in the life sciences and conduct research that is anticipated to enhance economic development in the State of Illinois.
2011 iCON Innovator Award Recipient
Professor John A. Rogers
University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignProfessor John A. Rogersobtained BA and BS degrees in chemistry and in physics from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1989. From MIT, he received SM degrees in physics and in chemistry in 1992 and the PhD degree in physical chemistry in 1995. From 1995 to 1997, Rogers was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows. During this time he also served as a founder and Director of Active Impulse Systems, a company that commercialized technologies developed during his PhD work.
Professor Rogers joined Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff in the Condensed Matter Physics Research Department in 1997, and served as Director of this department from the end of 2000 to 2002. He is the Lee J. Flory-Founder Chair in Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a primary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He also holds joint appointments in the Departments of Chemistry, Bioengineering, Mechanical Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering. He currently serves as the Director of a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center on nanomanufacturing, funded by the National Science Foundation.
Rogers’ research focuses on unusual electronic and photonic devices, with an emphasis on bio-integrated and bio-inspired systems. He has published more than 300 papers, and is an inventor on over 80 patents and patent applications, more than 50 of which are licensed or in active use by large companies and startups that he has co-founded. His research has been recognized with many awards including, most recently, the Lemelson-MIT Prize (2011), a MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2009), the George Smith Award from the IEEE (2009), the National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship from the Department of Defense (2008), the Daniel Drucker Eminent Faculty Award from the University of Illinois (2007) and the Leo Hendrick Baekeland Award from the American Chemical Society (2007). Rogers is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE; 2011) and a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE; 2009), the American Physical Society (APS; 2006), the Materials Research Society (MRS; 2007) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS; 2008).
Since joining the Illinois faculty in January 2003, Professor Rogers has distinguished himself as a mentor, encouraging collaboration, perseverance and innovation. Professor Rogers is also co-founder and director of the device companies MC10 Inc. and Semprius Inc., both of which work to apply and commercialize technology he has invented.
To learn more about the iCON Innovator Award, click HERE.