Seed funding to accelerate several ECE technology commercialization projects
Five projects led by College of Engineering faculty were recently chosen for funding via The Ohio State University Accelerator Awards, two of which went to Electrical and Computer Engineering professors Emre Ertin and Sanjay Krishna.
The Accelerator Awards program provides grants of up to $150,000 to help develop technologies to the point that they are either ready to be licensed by an Ohio-based startup company or are determined to be unfeasible for commercialization. The program is funded by the Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Startup Fund (TVSF) and Ohio State, and administered through the university’s Corporate Engagement Office.
“Many discoveries are early stage and need additional funding to help advance the technology,” said Cheryl Turnbull, senior director of the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship at Ohio State. “If we can help bridge that gap, the technologies are better positioned for becoming a successful startup and ultimately improve lives.”
Since the 2015 inception of the program, $3 million has been provided to Ohio State researchers to develop their innovations. Forty-six projects have been completed; 19 of those technologies are currently licensed or in the option phase, 12 projects are actively pursuing marketing and eight projects remain in development.
HFGuard: Noninvasive Sensing of Thoracic Fluid Levels for the Management of Congestive Heart Failure Patients
Heart failure is a leading causes of hospital admissions and death in the United States, and also one of the costliest disease syndromes. Current practice requires management of heart failure episodes in the hospital, and identifiers of worsening heart failure often develop too late to proactively manage. Earlier identification and treatment of worsening symptoms would help prevent development of heart failure exacerbations. Thoracic fluid accumulation develops prior to symptoms and presents a new early identifier. This project will develop a noninvasive sensor that can provide real time assessment of fluid levels, allowing early detection of worsening symptoms and trigger adjustments to medical therapy, preventing costly readmissions and avoiding life threatening complications. Accelerator Awards funding will enable refinement of the sensor design and user interface, as well as validate the accuracy of HFGuard in a clinical cohort of patients diagnosed with acute decompensated heart failure.
Lateral Interband Type-II Engineered Detectors (LITE Detectors)
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) applications are used for defense, space and autonomous vehicles. Current LiDAR technologies lack high-performance sensors and affordable price points. Additionally, LiDAR needs to be more sensitive with better response times. This novel technology, Lateral Interband Type-II Engineered (LITE) detectors, will solve these issues by enabling LiDAR systems to see farther and respond faster using an innovative detector architecture. If LiDAR are the eyes of the driverless car, then the proposed LITE detectors are the photoreceptors. Accelerator Awards funds will be used to develop and test the detectors.
Learn more about all five projects HERE.