Twelve inventors at Xerox with a knack for turning ideas into practical customer solutions recently hit patent milestones that rank them among the world's most inventive minds.

"We are innovating every day to create new services and technology for our customers," said Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox chief technology officer and president of the Xerox Innovation Group.  "Thinking outside the box and exploring the unknown are catalysts that drive innovation and motivate us to continually create new ways to help our customers succeed."
 
The following Xerox scientists and engineers have recently celebrated milestones of 250, 225, 150, 125, and 75 patents in a variety of research areas.
 
Brent Jones
Patent Milestone: 250
Jones, a principal engineer at the Xerox Global Development Group (XGDG) in Wilsonville, Ore., recently reached 263 patents. His 250th was for a user adaptable ink status conveyance system.
 
He is currently working on a assessment of the company's solid ink patent database.
 
This year Jones received 2012 Patent Award Ceremony recognition for obtaining 63 patents in 2011.
 
Jin Wu
Patent Milestone: 250
Wu, a project leader in the Xerox Consumables Development and Manufacturing Group, currently is working on long life photoconductor development and intermediate transfer belt domestication, two key technology areas within xerographic printing.
 
He holds 255 patents including a recent patent for the development of a new intermediate transfer media, used in Xerox printers.
 
Nan-Xing Hu
Patent Milestone: 150
Hu joined the Xerox Research Centre Canada (XRCC) in 1994, and has worked on a number of materials research and development projects.
 
Robert Loce
Patent Milestone: 150
Loce is a principal scientist and technical manager at Xerox Research Center Webster (XRCW) in New York. His current research activities involve leading projects into new video technologies relevant to transportation and health care.
 
He holds 159 patents in the areas of digital image processing, image enhancement, imaging systems, optics and halftoning.
 
Marcel Breton
Patent Milestone: 125
Breton is a principal scientist and project leader at XRCC, with experience in materials design, synthesis, formulation, and evaluation.
 
Breton is a certified Xerox Lean Six Sigma and Design for Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and an active member of the XRCC Technical Advisory Council.
 
Zhigang Fan
Patent Milestone: 125
Zhigang (Zeke) Fan's 125th U.S. patent covers methods that allow customers to schedule print jobs automatically in order to increase efficiency and save energy. A principal scientist at XRCW in New York, Fan's recent projects include work in video/image processing for transportation applications, mobile-based object recognition, and mobile communication systems.
 
Fan was recently named a Fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE).
 
Lalit K Mestha
Patent Milestone: 125
Mestha, a principal scientist at XRCW, holds 132 patents. His 125th patent covers a method for improving spot color accuracy, which will be used in Xerox digital printers to save toner usage by as much as 15 percent.
 
One of his recent projects involves using imaging and signal processing technologies to gather vital signs from patients and perform medical diagnosis.
 
Mestha is a Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
 
Brian Aznoe
Patent Milestone: 75
Aznoe is a mechanical engineering specialist at the XGDG in Wilsonville, Ore. He currently holds 78 patents, with his 75th being for a system and method for transporting fluid through a conduit.
 
His current work includes solid ink delivery; ink delivery system modeling and ink melt performance optimization.
 
Naveen Chopra
Patent Milestone: 75
Chopra is a senior research scientist at XRCC and recently obtained his 75th patent for a radiation-curable gel ink composition with reduced liquid separation.  
 
He is now involved in the design, synthesis, formulation and testing of robust solid ink, UV curable gel ink, and transient documents.
 
Gabriel Iftime
Patent Milestone: 75
Iftime is a senior research scientist at XRCC who specializes in developing applications for smart materials.
 
Iftime is passionate about proof of concept and prototype demonstration as well as developing intellectual property strategy for new materials technologies.
 
Karen Moffat
Patent Milestone: 75
Moffat is area manager of the analytical services and characterization group at XRCC and also acts as industry-university contract liaison manager. She currently holds 94 patents, and her 75th describes the design of light magenta emulsion aggregation toners that produce images with excellent color fidelity.
 
Her current projects include working with Emulsion Aggregation (EA) toner, focusing on both the design and implementation.
 
Bob Street
Patent Milestone: 75
Street is a senior research fellow at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), a Xerox Company. One of his recent patents addresses a three-dimensional curved sensor or display backplane for devices that need to conform to a specific shape. It describes a method to address a pixel array that is fabricated on a flat substrate and then cut and bent into a three dimensional shape enabling future applications such as shaped electronics for a car dashboard display.
 
His current projects include work on organic solar cells and thin film transistor backplanes.