June 2, 2005
Technology Gap Innovation Fund award recipients named
UW TechTransfer has announced the recipients of the second round of Technology Gap Innovation Fund (TGIF) awards.
The TGIF is a Royalty Research Fund that sponsors UW researchers to develop their leading-edge technologies, which are chosen for their strong commercial potential. The funding provided by the TGIF supports additional research and prototype development to enhance the commercial prospects of projects.
In the fund’s first year, the UW committed $500,000 from royalties and licensing fees generated by UW TechTransfer, and the Washington Research Foundation provided a gift of $250, 000.
A diverse group of proposals was selected for the awards. The grantees and their projects are:
- Les Atlas of electrical engineering and Pamela Souza of speech and hearing sciences, whose award will fund the demonstration of a patented technology that dramatically improves the ability of the hearing-impaired to isolate a desired speaker’s voice in the presence of other conversations and noise
- Maya Gupta of electrical engineering, whose grant will fund the improvements and testing of an algorithm that improves the quality of printed images
- Vikram Jandhyala of electrical engineering, for enhancements to a unique suite of simulation software for designing micro- and nanoelectronics.
- Vipin Kumar of mechanical engineering, for the development and testing of prototype microcellular vinyl siding, which uses less material and is a better insulator than traditional vinyl siding.
- Wei-Chih Wang and Per Reinhall of mechanical engineering, for development of a prototype electro-optic imaging system whose small size will render medical procedures such as endoscopies much less invasive.
- Younan Xia, chemistry, for the scale-up of silver and gold nanostructure synthesis for electronics and medical applications such as cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- Miqin Zhang, engineered biomaterials and materials science and engineering, for the construction of hybrid scaffolding material for repair and regeneration of load-bearing and large bone defects.
James Severson, vice provost of intellectual property and technology transfer, said UW TechTransfer received a number of very high quality applications. Severson said he is pleased with the interest shown in the TGIF program, which has already had a positive impact — negotiations for license agreements are already under way for several projects funded in the first round of the program.
TGIF funds are solicited twice per year. The next round of TGIF applications will be accepted until September 26. For more information or to apply, visit http://depts.washington.edu/techtran/tt/TGIF/.
UW TechTransfer facilitates the commercialization of new innovations arising from UW research through managing and licensing intellectual property rights.
