UW’s NSF Research Translation Grant Funds Its First Three Projects

Four University of Wyoming faculty members working on three separate projects received funding from a grant awarded to UW by the Technology and Innovation Partnerships Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Po Chen, Debasish Dutta and co-principal investigators John Oakey and Cynthia Weinig are the first UW professors to have projects funded out of an Accelerating Research Translation (ART) grant from NSF that was awarded to UW in February. Each project receives $75,000 out of the grant this year.

Chen’s project on “Full 3D-Tomography (F3DT) Software” has potential applications in nondestructive ultrasound testing, ultrasound medical imaging and seismic analysis. F3DT has superior capabilities over current techniques because it captures multiple types of physical properties coupled with better spatial resolution. Funding for this project will result in faster data capture, improved spatial resolution and an improved graphical user interface to make the software more commercially viable. Chen is an associate professor of geology and geophysics at UW.

Dutta’s project involves a method for analyzing results of human nasal test swabs using a “lateral flow imunoassay device.” The proposed device would potentially improve accuracy of conventional rapid influenza diagnostic tests by a couple orders of magnitude. It employs a dissolvable substrate that doesn’t require as much liquid for analysis due to an improved novel sensor. Dutta is a UW chemistry professor.

The funded project by Weinig, a UW botany professor, and Oakey, a UW professor of chemical and biomedical engineering, explores the feasibility of using hydrogel plant growth substrates with intact microbiomes in controlled environment agriculture. The use of sterile rockwool mats is common as a plant growth substrate, but they lack a critical biotic component that would enhance plant growth. The proposed microbiome growth substrate employs proprietary hydrogel particles or spun fibers to enable plant-microbiome interactions in the root zone that anchor the microbiome and enhance plant growth.

“Our congratulations go to each of these researchers at UW,” says Parag Chitnis, vice president of UW’s Research and Economic Development Division and principal investigator for the ART program. “These projects competed with 15 other applications under a highly rigorous and competitive review process that used external technology transfer experts as reviewers. We look forward to seeing how Wyoming reaps economic benefit from the translation of the research into real-world applications.”

UW is just one of 18 institutions nationwide selected to receive a total of $100 million from NSF for the ART program, which is to be used to reengineer an awarded university’s research and commercialization enterprise. UW joins a select group of other universities receiving funding that includes Clemson University, Florida State University, the University of Alabama, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Missouri. President Ed Seidel and Deputy Vice President of Research and Innovation Arundeep Pradhan serve as co-principal investigators of UW ART.

UW has two partners to provide mentorship and training for the ART program: CSU STRATA and Apio Innovation Transfer. CSU STRATA is a private, nonprofit corporation and legally separate from the Colorado State University (CSU) System. Founded in 1941, it supports and serves the campuses and affiliates of the CSU System through intellectual property management and technology transfer services. Its staff will serve as mentors for the UW technology transfer office as it seeks to reorganize and reengineer technology transfer at the university. Apio Innovation Transfer will provide training and hands-on commercialization and translational research support to students, faculty and staff.