The Rich History of Research & Development in New Jersey Despite Sopranos references and "What's your exit?" jokes, New Jersey is a small state with some very big advantages. Once called "America the beautiful, only smaller" by National Geographic, New Jersey boasts 127 miles of white sandy beaches, over one million acres of protected Pinelands, thousands of lakes, rivers and streams, miles of scenic valleys and mountains and four national wildlife preserves - more than any other Eastern state. It is a state rich in history, culture, entertainment and industry. Businesses have always flocked to the Garden State for its central location, highly educated work force, reliable mass transportation system and close proximity to the financial and media resources of New York City. Some of the state's fastest growing industries - pharmaceuticals/ biotechnology, information technology, chemical and electronics - are those driven by research and development to create the new, the improved and the innovative. "Beginning with Thomas Alva Edison, New Jersey has more inventors per square mile than any other state in the nation," says Mario Casabona, past Chairman of the Research & Development Council of New Jersey. In fact, New Jersey ranks fourth in total U.S. patents and has produced 30 Nobel Prize winners. "We also have the highest concentration of scientists," he notes. "As past Chairman of an association that supports and promotes research and development in New Jersey, I'm proud of New Jersey's achievements and of our well-deserved reputation as The Innovation State." The Medicine Chest of the World: New Jersey's Pharmaceutical Companies New Jersey ranks first in the nation in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals. In 2001 alone, nearly $2.4 billion was spent here for research and development of new pharmaceuticals and medical technology and in recent years, nearly 40% of all new drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were created by New Jersey firms and associates. Fifteen of the largest drug companies in the world have established facilities in New Jersey, making the pharmaceutical industry the state's biggest employer. With this rich pharmaceutical presence, it is no wonder that many important medical discoveries originated right here. The anti-cancer drug, Interferon, anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium and Librium, the world's first test for Hepatitis C, antibiotics like streptomycin, Band-aid sterile bandages, Retin-A acne and wrinkle cream, Colgate's Total antibacterial toothpaste and most recently, Listerine PocketPak strips, to name just a few. High Tech Innovations In addition to pharmaceuticals, electronics and technology are also big business in New Jersey. The state is home to 476 electronics manufacturing facilities and ranks first in the research and development of electronics innovations overall. Some of the milestone "firsts" in electronics and products that now drive the American way of life had their origin right here. The television and the electronics that made cable television possible, the photo-copier, the flight simulator, the weather satellite, FM radio, and the first transistor -- a part of almost every electronic device and led to the invention of the silicon gate transistor, the power behind today's computers, all came about through the ingenuity of New Jersey inventors. In fact, one in ten New Jersey residents who work in the private sector, is employed by a high technology firm. Beginning with Oberlin Smith, a contemporary of Thomas Alva Edison's, who back in 1877 developed a reel-to-reel magnetic recording system -- the technology that paved the way for the development of the tape recorder, the telephone answering machine and the computer -- New Jersey has proven a leader in the high-tech field. Some of our high tech innovations include: the high speed modem; digital cellular technology; cell phones and the batteries that power them; the laser; the laser bar code scanner; the fax machine; the semi-conductor; DSL for high speed Internet access; and the silicon germanium thermoelectric power generator that made the Voyager Space Probe possible. And then, of course, there's a little invention called "the incandescent lamp" more commonly known as the electric light. The Greatest Inventor: A Famous New Jerseyan Thomas Alva Edison, the genius who harnessed the power of electricity, made New Jersey his home and his workplace for over 40 years. Edison was granted 1,093 patents during his lifetime, more than any other inventor. In addition to the electric light and the system by which it is generated, Edison invented the dry storage battery, the electric railway, the wireless transmission of messages, the motion picture camera and, his favorite -- the phonograph. "Edison didn't just invent machines: he invented entire industries," notes Casabona. "But perhaps the greatest invention Edison left us is the first industrial research and development laboratory: The concept of research and development as an organized process with scientific apparatus, trained assistants, and plenty of patience, imagination, creativity and hard work. This was the truly the beginning of research and development. And we can proudly say it all started in New Jersey." New Jersey's Earliest Research and Development Laboratories and their Innovations Innovation Company Lab Lab Opens Incandescent Lamp Edison's Menlo Park Lab 1876 Electric Power Systems General Electric 1885 The Phonograph Edison's West Orange Lab 1887 Antiseptic Surgical Dressing Johnson & Johnson 1891 Recombivax HB, the first genetically engineered vaccine for human use Merck 1891 Specialty chemicals used in adhesives, resins and starches National Starch 1895 Teflon and Lycra Dupont 1903 Solvent-free, low odor, low VOC, Water-thinnable paint Benjamin Moore 1904 Mass produced lightbulbs Westinghouse 1904 Motor oil, low-lead and lead-free gasoline Exxon 1919 Emission control and fuel efficiency technology Engelhard 1920 Television RCA 1920 The transistor, the laser and fiber optics Bell Labs 1925 High octane gasoline Mobil 1925 The "hot wire" welding process Union Carbide 1925 High voltage transmission systems & substations PSE&G 1926 Valium Hoffman LaRoche 1929 Condensed Soup Campbell Soup 1939 High strength SPECTRA polyethylene fiber for bulletproof vests, surgical gloves, sports equipment, artificial tendons and ligaments and joint prostheses Allied Signal 1943 The Ritz cracker Nabisco 1958 Return to R&D News Main Page