The Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame class of 2017 includes:
Brian Shumaker - Brian Shumaker invented a system that gives engineers and scientists detailed temperature
readings of arctic installations from anywhere in the world. He received a patent for his Multipoint Digital Temperature Acquisition System in
2010. Shumaker’s development has allowed reliable, web-enabled continuous access to ground
temperature data beneath structures, roads and tundra.
Jeff Rothman - Jeff Rothman improved a sensor that, when deployed in an Alaska forest, can detect
a nuclear explosion on the far side of the planet or a volcanic eruption in an Aleutian
storm. His patented infrasound sensor is smaller, more accurate and uses less power
than its predecessor.
Rajive Ganguli -
Geoff and Marcy Larson, Alaskan Brewing Company - In developing their “beer-powered beer,” they have saved more than 80,000 gallons
of No. 2 diesel fuel each year by using their spent brewing grains to power a steam
boiler that sprung from their own imaginations. Rather than barging out the grain or overwhelming the Juneau landfill, the brewery
burns the dried product. It creates steam that powers their brewing process. This
has allowed Alaskan Brewing Company to be true to a lofty stated goal: “To have a
zero-net negative effect upon our environment by reclaiming and reusing at least as
much waste and emissions as we produce.”
Peter Webley - Peter Webley and his colleagues in the remote sensing group at the University of
Alaska’s Geophysical Institute developed novel tools to predict the drift of volcanic
ash and assess its impact on daily operations. The aviation community and other transportation
industry planners wishing to avoid putting their infrastructure and personnel at risk
have the option of purchasing and obtaining access to online “decision support software,”
available from Webley’s company: Volcanic Ash Detection, Avoidance, and Preparedness
for Transportation (V-ADAPT), Inc.
