Josef Bille (born 20 September 1944 in Neuenkirchen) is a German

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

Life

Bille studied physics at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. From 1974 to 1978 he worked for the company

Hoechst AG Hoechst AG () was a German chemicals then life-sciences company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1999. With the new company's 2004 merger with Sanofi-Synthélabo, it became a subsidiary of th ...

. Since 1978 Bille worked at

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

. From 1986 to 1991 Bille worked at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

. He patented surgical lasers for

LASIK LASIK or Lasik (''laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis''), commonly referred to as laser eye surgery or laser vision correction, is a type of refractive surgery for the correction of myopia, hyperopia, and an actual cure for astigmatism, sinc ...

in 1988. He founded five companies in Heidelberg and United States.

Awards

* 1999:

German Future Prize The German Future Prize award is considered one of the most prestigious conferred for science and innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offer ...

* 2012:

European Inventor Award The European Inventor Award(formerly European Inventor of the Year Award, renamed in 2010), are presented annually by the European Patent Office, sometimes supported by the respective Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the Eur ...

References

External links

Focus: Zwei Deutsche gewinnen europäischen Erfinderpreis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bille, Josef 1944 births Living people People from Steinfurt (district) People from the Province of Westphalia 20th-century German inventors German company founders 20th-century German physicists 21st-century German physicists Academic staff of Heidelberg University