Research at Arizona State University has been listed among the top 50 inventions for 2008 by Time Magazine.

In its Best Inventions of 2008, Time editors acknowledged the research of professor Milton Sommerfeld, and assistant professor Qiang Hu, both of ASU Polytechnic, for their work on developing algae based biofuel. The work is “raising algae to turn it into a biofuel that would be virtually identical to gasoline,” the magazine stated. Other benefits of Sommerfeld and Hu’s work is that it would be carbon neutral, because algae consume carbon dioxide as they grow, and algae can’t be eaten, like corn or sugarcane, two other sources for biofuels, so using it for fuel doesn’t cut into food supplies.

Time Magazine also recognized NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as a top 50 invention this year. A key component of that project is being developed by Mark Robinson, an ASU professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. Robinson is constructing and integrating the wide-angle camera for the orbiter, which will be launched in February of 2009 and will aid lunar landing site identification and certification.

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