{"id":20875,"date":"2024-09-05T12:38:54","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T17:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/?p=20875"},"modified":"2024-09-05T12:38:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T17:38:55","slug":"uwm-research-foundation-awards-200000-in-catalyst-grants-to-college-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/uwm-research-foundation-awards-200000-in-catalyst-grants-to-college-researchers\/","title":{"rendered":"51ÁÔÆæ Research Foundation awards $200,000 in Catalyst Grants to college researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Identifying proteins for new drugs to treat triple-negative breast cancer. Creating a threat-modeling system to enhance cybersecurity in manufacturing. Developing an improved material for solar cells. These are among the projects from the College of Engineering & Applied Science funded through the latest round of 51ÁÔÆæ Research Foundation\u2019s Catalyst Grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Catalyst Grant program is designed to seed-fund research in areas where 51ÁÔÆæ has the greatest potential to impact the regional economy through commercialization. The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation<\/a> has provided continued support for the program since 2007. New this year, Invenergy<\/a> has provided support specifically for clean energy research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its inception, the Catalyst Grant program has provided $6 million for projects that have led to 18 51ÁÔÆæ startup companies campuswide. The investment has yielded 66 issued patents, 50 pending patents, 30 license\/option agreements and more than $40.7 million in follow-on funding to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the Bradley Foundation support, other donors over the years include the Rockwell Automation Charitable Corporation, the Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation, GE HealthCare and Clarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This round of grants went to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identifying breast cancer-fighting proteins from healthy cells<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qingsu Cheng, biomedical engineering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheng is investigating proteins naturally secreted by human cells that inhibit the growth of triple-negative breast cancer cells. Using organoids derived from real patient tumors, he aims to identify proteins that can be developed into small-molecule drugs, offering a cost-effective treatment for this aggressive cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improving cybersecurity for advanced manufacturing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zhen Zeng, computer science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zeng plans to create a threat-modeling system to enhance cybersecurity in complex advanced manufacturing systems. By automating repetitive tasks and integrating threat intelligence, this large language model-assisted tool seeks to significantly reduce the time and effort required for threat modeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developing low-cost materials for better solar panels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikolai Kouklin, materials science & engineering, and Konstantin Sobolev, civil & environmental engineering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers aim to develop a cost-effective and scalable alternative material for solar cells and other optoelectronic devices. They are using zinc oxide phosphate films to enhance efficiency and environmental sustainability, overcoming the challenges of the current material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A device to safely test anchors in concrete structures<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jian Zhao, civil & environmental engineering, and Nathan Salowitz, mechanical engineering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining a steel structure with concrete requires drilling a hole in the hardened concrete and inserting a metal anchor with an adhesive that forms a chemical bond with the surfaces. But improper installation or aging can lead to defects in the adhesive-concrete interface. This research team is developing a \u201csmart cap nut\u201d that generates and measures micro-vibrations to detect such defects that often are not visible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Identifying proteins for new drugs to treat triple-negative breast cancer. Creating a threat-modeling system to enhance cybersecurity in manufacturing. Developing an improved material for solar cells. 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