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Ian A. Shanks Awarded NAE's 2025 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thu, January 02, 2025

Washington D.C., January 02, 2025 —
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE), together with Ohio University, announced today that Ian A. Shanks, University of Glasgow, is the 2025 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize recipient. The $500,000 prize, supported by Ohio University through a gift from Russ family, recognizes an outstanding bioengineering achievement in widespread use that improves the human condition. Shanks is recognized “for the invention of the electrochemical capillary fill device (eCFD), which gives diabetes patients and caregivers accurate and timely blood glucose measurements for diabetes management.”
 
Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing global health challenges of the 21st century, and Shanks’ remarkable bioengineering achievement offers a groundbreaking approach to managing it. The eCFD is an innovative type of glucose monitor that requires only a small sample of blood from a fingerstick, making it possible to achieve accurate glucose monitoring on a personal basis. Shanks’ widely adopted invention eliminates the need for arm blood draws at laboratory facilities, providing a quick, accurate, inexpensive, and simple way to measure blood glucose levels for diabetes diagnosis or management.
 
“Ian Shanks revolutionized blood glucose measurement with his invention of electrochemical capillary fill device technology, significantly advancing care for millions of people worldwide who have diabetes,” said NAE President John Anderson. “This innovation exemplifies the collaborative power of using engineering principles in modern medicine.”
 
“It is an honor to support Dr. Shanks’ incredible work through the Russ Prize,” said Ohio University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez. “This year’s award is particularly meaningful to us as a national research institution situated in the Appalachian region, where the prevalence of diabetes surpasses national averages. The eCFD exemplifies the potential impact of the interdisciplinary translational research we are working to foster at OHIO’s Russ College of Engineering and Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.”
 
Ian A. Shanks received his BSc in electrical engineering from Glasgow University. He received his Ph.D. while working at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment in Malvern, England. There, between 1973 and 1982, he achieved or contributed to numerous research advances that extended our knowledge of liquid crystals and pioneered today’s LCD technologies. For this research, he was awarded the 1984 Paterson Medal of the U.K. Institute of Physics and a best paper award from the Society for Information Display. 
 
In 1982, Shanks joined Unilever to initiate research into biosensors. His research enabled LCD and biosensor technologies. In 1976, he published the first paper on 3D television using LCDs, and almost all blood glucose test strips used by diabetics are based on his 1982 invention of electrochemical, capillary-fill device (eCFD) biosensors at Unilever Research. Such test strips can be made inexpensively in large numbers using mass manufacturing technology adapted from that for digital watch LCDs. They are still the gold standard for self-testing to monitor diabetes, allowing many millions of patients with diabetes to monitor the disease and avoid its often-dire consequences.
 
As chief scientist of THORN EMI plc from 1986 to 1994, he had responsibility for the leadership of roughly 200 scientists, engineers, and industrial designers. This responsibility was further extended when he rejoined Unilever in 1994, where, as vice president of physical and engineering sciences, he served on a board that managed the corporate research program for a concern that employed around 250,000 people and had research laboratories in the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, India, and China. 
 
Shanks retired as vice president of physical and engineering sciences at Unilever in 2003. He maintains some of his science and engineering interests. As a distinguished and inventive scientist and engineer, he has extensive research and management experience in industry and government and relevant experience in science education. His research and management expertise covers the physical and life sciences, knowledge management, and engineering. He also has experience in leading strategy formulation. He has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Shanks was awarded the OBE for services to innovation in 2012 and has served on or chaired many senior committees for various organizations. 
 
In 2019, after a 13-year-long legal battle, the U.K. Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, awarded Shanks substantial compensation from Unilever as a fair share of their outstanding benefit from licensing the eCFD patents and established legal precedent for how the U.K. 1977 Patents Act should be interpreted in the future, thus incentivizing future U.K. employee inventors. This was the first such award in over 30 years. 
 
In 2020, Shanks was awarded the Royal Society’s Royal Medal in the Applied Sciences.
 
About the Russ Prize
The Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize recognizes an outstanding bioengineering achievement in widespread use that improves the human condition. This achievement should help the public better understand and appreciate the contributions of engineers to our health, well-being and quality of life. An auxiliary purpose of the Russ Prize is to encourage collaboration between the engineering and medical/biological professions to work closely together.
 
The NAE established the Russ Prize at the request of Ohio University to honor Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ for their dedication to education and the field of engineering. Fritz Russ graduated from Ohio University in 1942 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. Awarded biennially (odd number years), the recipient receives a $500,000 cash award and a commemorative medallion. NAE members and non-members worldwide are eligible to receive the Russ Prize.
 
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Founded in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering is a private, independent, nonprofit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. Its mission is to advance the welfare and prosperity of the nation by providing independent advice on matters involving engineering and technology, and by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and public appreciation of engineering.
Sabrina Steinberg
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SSteinberg@nae.edu
Deborah M. Young
Contact Deborah M. Young
Program Officer, Awards Program
National Academy of Engineering
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dyoung@nae.edu