A team of Intel Corporation computer experts that included Illinois Wesleyan graduate Jeff Morriss has won the European Inventor Award 2013 for the development of Universal Serial Bus (USB) technology that is used to easily connect computers to other electronic devices. Morriss was part of the five-member Intel team that developed the USB. After majoring in physics at Illinois Wesleyan, Morriss earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University before joining Intel. Ajay V. Bhatt led the Intel team, which included Morriss, Shaun Knoll, Shelagh Callahan and Bala Cadambi.

The award is Europe’s most important prize for innovation and is presented annually by the European Patent Office to outstanding innovators in five categories for their contributions to technological, social and economic progress. The USB team won in the category “Non-European Countries.” The 2013 winners were announced May 28 in Amsterdam.