2002 Copper Black awarded to Dr. Casimer DeCusatis

Dr. Casimer DeCusatis of Poughkeepsie, NY is the 2002 recipient of the Copper Black Award that is presented annually by the Mensa Education & Research Foundation.

Dr. DeCusatis was selected for this honor because he was the principle inventor of a new type of fiber optic data multiplexing system that allows back up of computer data remotely. His invention has been rated among the top 25 new inventions by several organizations. It prevented total data loss for the many financial institutions located there, when the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks occurred.

"Without his invention, there could have been unimaginable financial disaster from the attack on the WTC," said Gregory D. Timmers, president of MERF.

Named for Copper Black, a Mensan who left a legacy through MERF, the award is presented to a Mensan who demonstrates creativity, originality of thought or expression. It acknowledges inventions that have been patented or otherwise demonstrated to be of practical value, or innovations that have been implemented in part to some advantage to persons other than the nominee. The Copper Black Award consists of a medallion and an honorarium. Dr. DeCusatis is a senior technical staff member for IBM Corporation in Poughkeepsie. He received a B.S. degree magna cum laude in the engineering science honors program at Pennsylvania State University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.