FROM MIND TO MARKET
NOSANG MYUNG’S INVENTION — THE ELECTRONIC NOSE — CAN DETECT DANGEROUS CHEMICALS IN THE AIR SO HUMANS CAN BE SAVED BY THE SMELL BY TED B. KISSELL
NOSANG VINCENT MYUNG has been a chemical and environmental
20 | UCR Winter 2014
Photo: Lonnie Duka Illustration: Colin Hayes
engineering professor at UC Riverside for 10 years. But it was at his previous position, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, that he learned the most important lesson on presenting his research. Everything JPL did had to result in a concrete application for the space program, so Myung learned that theory alone wouldn’t cut it. “You cannot go with a half-cooked idea to show to people,” he declares, flashing his bright smile. “You’ve got to go all the way: ‘Here’s a complete prototype.’”