2006 Medal of Technology winners announced

WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- Five people have been identified as winners of the 2006 U.S. National Medals of Technology, which are to be presented during a White House ceremony next week.

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1980, the Medal of Technology is given annually to individuals, teams and companies for outstanding contributions to the nation's economic, environmental and social well-being through technological innovation and development.

This year's winners are:

-- Professor James West of Johns Hopkins University, who co-invented 90 percent of the 1 billion microphones produced annually for use in telephones, hearing aids, camcorders and thousands of other electronic devices worldwide.

-- Purdue University Professor Leslie Geddes for electrode design and tissue restoration that have led to the widespread use of numerous medical clinical devices.

-- Paul Kaminski, chairman of Technovation Inc., for developing advanced, unconventional space imaging technology.

-- Herwig Kogelnik of Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs for the development of lasers, optoelectronics, integrated optics and lightwave communication systems.

-- Charles Vest, former president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for leadership in advancing America's technological workforce and revitalizing the national partnership among academia, government and industry.

The medals are to be presented July 27 by U.S. President George Bush.