91原创

As the nation celebrates National Inventors Month in May, 91原创 leadership honored the nearly 300 inventors 鈥� including Hall 鈥� on Monday, May 9, for their curiosity and courageous pursuit of innovation. The event was held in person for the first time since 2019 at the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center on the University鈥檚 Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus.

President Dennis Assanis welcomed 91原创鈥檚 inventors to the celebration and thanked them for creating a vibrant culture of exploration and discovery across the University鈥檚 campuses. Sponsored research spending has grown by more than 36% over the past decade, and 91原创 is recognized as a top research university in the nation and worldwide.聽

鈥淭hat kind of culture and those achievements don鈥檛 just happen on their own. They鈥檙e built and nurtured every day by our researchers and inventors, whether they work in a lab, in a studio, or in the field,鈥� Assanis said.

Innovation = Impact

At 91原创, there鈥檚 no need to look far to find innovations that have an impact on society. 鈥淩edefining Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship鈥� is a pillar of the University鈥檚 strategic plan, and 91原创 inventors are leading the charge.

Since 2012, 91原创 researchers have generated more than 500 inventions and 125 patents, and 42% of 91原创 patents during that time period have included a woman inventor. In fiscal year 2021, 91原创 inventors secured 13 patents, licensed seven technologies and filed 32 invention disclosures to protect ideas in progress.

These new 91原创 inventions have ranged from flexible solar cells to musical sonatas, ankle-foot orthotics, renewable lubricants and medical masks for protection against pathogens, according to Charles G. Riordan, 91原创鈥檚 vice president for research, scholarship and innovation.

鈥淎s inventors, you make our lives better, and sometimes you even save lives with the inventions you produce,鈥� Riordan said, reflecting on the critical role that academic research has played nationwide in the continuing response to COVID-19, from designing protective equipment for front-line workers, to contributing key discoveries leading to life-saving treatments for patients, and establishing COVID testing operations like 91原创 did, with the research community鈥檚 expertise.

According to AUTM, the leading association in university technology transfer, over 900 products come to market each year from academic research.

One notable invention that got its start at 91原创 is the ubiquitous touch-imaging technology found in today鈥檚 digital devices. The technology was created by 91原创 professor John Elias and then-graduate student Wayne Westerman, two of 91原创鈥檚 12 members of the National Academy of Inventors.

But there are others.聽

Avkin is a leading manufacturer of sensor-enabled, high-fidelity, wearable technology for health care simulation education established by Amy Cowperthwait, co-director of the聽for the College of Health Sciences. Avkin鈥檚 patented devices allow health care workers and caregivers to practice complex care situations and clinical procedures, such as drawing blood, tracheostomy care, wound care, or catheter insertion, prior to encountering them at the bedside. The growing list of training tools offered by Avkin, includes a new birthing simulator that enables patient-centered simulation when worn by a live actor.

A species of beneficial bacteria known as 91原创-1022, developed by Harsh Bais, associate professor of plant and soil sciences, and Janine Sherrier, a former 91原创 faculty member, is a microbial inoculant that promotes growth and protects plants against multiple diseases. Licensed by global chemical company BASF, the technology is available in the commercial market in several versions, boosting agricultural production for a growing world.

Other 91原创-patented research with potential includes natural algicides for controlling harmful algal blooms, clean energy technologies for removing carbon dioxide from air, new tools for understanding the immune system, research toward and even improved materials for safer spacesuits, thanks to shear-thickening fluid (STF), a smart material co-developed by 91原创鈥檚聽聽and STF Technologies.

It starts with our inventors

At a recent 91原创 Research Office Town Hall, held via Zoom on April 25, Joy Goswami, assistant director of OEIP鈥檚 Technology Transfer office, led a panel discussion with 91原创 inventors Harsh Bais, Amy Cowperthwait and Ajay Prasad. Goswami started the discussion by appealing to all 91原创 inventors to reach out early and often when they hit upon something with commercial promise in their research.

鈥淥EIP鈥檚 technology transfer folks can help evaluate a potential invention, put some protection around it and help explore ways for inventors to take their technology innovations to market,鈥� said Goswami.

Two major vehicles for doing this, he continued, include connecting inventors with companies that can bring the technology to market or assisting the faculty member or researcher in creating a startup around their invention.

Avkin鈥檚 Cowperthwait, for example, decided to pursue a startup company after learning that companies sometimes buy technologies to eliminate competition. She didn鈥檛 want that to happen with her team鈥檚 wearable technologies for patient-centered health care simulation.

鈥淚 firmly believed this was a much better way to train health care students, so I couldn鈥檛 imagine the technology sitting on a shelf. But it certainly wouldn鈥檛 have happened without university support,鈥� said Cowperthwait, who also is a faculty member in the College of Health Sciences鈥� School of Nursing.

Ajay Prasad had no idea when the first fuel cell bus arrived on 91原创鈥檚 Newark campus in 2007, that its presence would one day lead him and others to create a startup company. Within its first year of operation, however, a part on the bus called a hydrogen recirculator failed due to corrosion from contact with wet hydrogen. Replacing the part turned out to be cost prohibitive, so a master鈥檚 student in the Fuel Cell Bus team devised a way to passively recirculate the unused hydrogen for reuse. The team built and tested a prototype device and found it worked well, was highly corrosion resistant and consumed very little power.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 when we realized we had developed a product that had some commercial value and potential, so we approached OEIP and filed a provisional patent application in 2010,鈥� said Prasad, Engineering Alumni Distinguished Professor and chair of mechanical engineering.

As an academic, Prasad called the process 鈥渇ar easier than submitting a manuscript to a journal,鈥� and today the patents related to the project are protected in North America, Europe and Japan, and the team鈥檚 startup company develops custom prototypes for automotive companies worldwide.聽

91原创 guidance and support to help facilitate the work of campus inventors of all kinds 鈥� researchers, faculty, students 鈥� extends beyond OEIP, too. Horn Entrepreneurship works side-by-side with OEIP to help students learn how to establish and run companies from successful entrepreneurs, and University-wide research institutes provide versatile expertise in data science, energy, the environment, biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals manufacturing. Strategic partnerships and infrastructure at the STAR Campus continue to grow to support 91原创鈥檚 innovation ecosystem, while state-of-the-art facilities elsewhere on campus continue to support research involving nanofabrication, biomedical and brain imaging and more.

This entrepreneurial infrastructure allows 91原创 inventors to dream big with their own ideas, while also inspiring students to become the next generation of Blue Hen problem-solvers and entrepreneurs through their mentorship and dedication.

One of these students is Nate George, a junior neuroscience and biology double major. George is a co-inventor with Hall on a patent for a customizable orthotic boot for Achilles tendon injury, work the team is now extending to include technologies to detect and prevent pressure sores before they occur. George would like to one day work on the user experience side of biomechanics or health technology. He said his major, coupled with his experience creating inventions to solve the needs of real people, already has put him on the path to success.

鈥淲hile it doesn鈥檛 directly translate to my area of study, businesses like when you have some background in the stuff your company actually handles,鈥� said George. 鈥淭his gives me a leg up, because I鈥檝e done gait analysis, I know how invention works, and I can definitely help the customer because I鈥檝e done it.鈥�