Nashville’s Fisk University helped develop crystals that are now being used to detect radiation in the country’s ports. On Thursday, the technology was recognized as one of the 100 most significant developments in the past year.
R&D Magazine’s annual list has highlighted thousands of useful breakthroughs, including the ATM, fax machine and nicotine gum. The innovations often come out of high-profile labs at MIT and IBM.
Fisk has improved on the way radiation is detected. Current screening is riddled with false positives. Dr. Arnold Burger says cat litter and even bananas can confuse the systems.
“But if you have a detector that will be able to tell the difference between bananas and highly-enriched uranium, you can immediately stop, come and inspect.”
Burger says the radiation-detecting crystals are also cheaper than the current technology and could have medical applications in screening for cancer.
Fisk’s research was funded by the Department of Homeland Security. Other institutions were also involved, including Oak Ridge National Lab.
Fisk and its partner labs have applied for a patent for this new smaller, cheaper and more accurate device that detects radioactivity.
University President Hazel O’Leary says the technology has the possibility to generate revenue for the school, which has struggled financially.
“It takes a long time for an income stream to develop, but I can guarantee you that the more important income stream will be students.”
Fisk is the only Historically Black College and University to ever be included in the R&D 100 Awards. The university has been part of the R&D 100 three times now, all for breakthroughs in the field of radiation detection.
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