This Entrepreneurship Award is named for Mr. Carl H. Rosner, whose career is an excellent example of a successful entrepreneur in the commercialization of superconductivity. Early in his professional career Mr. Rosner left the research department of a large industrial company to start a small company, Intermagnetics General Corporation (IGC), which focused on the design and manufacturing of superconducting magnets, mostly for the scientific research community. Within five years, the company was viable and self-sustaining and over the next thirty years, Mr. Rosner grew IGC into a publicly-owned company with annual revenue in excess of 300 million dollars.
The Carl H. Rosner Entrepreneurship Award, presented by IEEE Counsel on Superconductivity, recognizes the potential impact of superconductivity on the fields of electrical engineering, physics, medicine and energy by rewarding young entrepreneurs who have established a successful business or had the primary responsibility within a commercial organization to commercialize a device or service based on a property of superconductivity. The award recognizes young entrepreneurs while they are still growing their businesses to encourage others to follow their path.
This Award is presented not more than once per calendar year at a suitable international conference on applied superconductivity that is associated with the IEEE Council on Superconductivity, such as the Applied Superconductivity Conference, or at a time and place designated by the President of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity. The Award is made only in those years when the Selection Panel has made a selection.
Danko van der Laan received the award for demonstrating outstanding entrepreneurship skills in the field of applied superconductivity, in particular for founding Advanced Conductor Technologies LLC with the goal of commercializing high-temperature superconducting (HTS) CORC® cables; for the development of innovative HTS CORC® cables for high field magnets and high current power transmission systems; and for transferring these technological advances to the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy.