Professor who harnessed power of cactuses is a top inventor
DIVYA KUMAR, Tampa Bay Times
May 9, 2021
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) When Norma Alcantar got a call last month from Judy Genshaft, the former University of South Florida president, she wondered what had happened.
She was pleasantly surprised to hear that she would be inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. Genshaft had nominated her for the honor.
For Alcantar, a professor of chemical engineering who holds 22 patents, it was recognition for a lifetime of work. Much of her research focuses on using the gooey fluid found in cactus leaves for water filtration something she credits her grandmother for teaching her.