Joseph M. DeSimone, a professor of chemistry at two universities in North Carolina, has won the Lemelson-MIT Prize for a range of important inventions, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced today. The award, which comes with $500,000, honors outstanding inventors.

Mr. DeSimone, who holds positions at both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, has more than 115 patents and has 70 other applications pending. He has invented a way to reduce the production of pollutants in the manufacturing process of high-performance plastics, by substituting an acid with a long lifespan with a variety of CO2. And he invented an environmentally friendly technique that spawned a chain of “green” dry-cleaning stores.

He also designed a polymer-based bioabsorbable tube that can be used to keep arteries open in patients with coronary disease and that is now being tested in an international clinical trial.

His latest invention is a technology to build nanoparticles that could be used to diagnose and treat several diseases. The DeSimone lab is also working on ways to make solar cells more efficient.

In its citation, the Lemelson-MIT Program made special mention of Mr. DeSimone’s commitment to mentorship: He has advised 45 postdoctoral researchers, 52 Ph.D. candidates, six master’s theses, and 21 undergraduate researchers. —Maria José Viñas