Six Purdue innovators advance their technologies through Trask funding

The Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Purdue’s Discovery Park District is the new home for the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization, which helps manage the Trask Innovation Fund. (Purdue Research Foundation image/Oren Darling) Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Six Purdue University researchers have received a total of $212,845 from the Trask Innovation Fund to help their labs commercialize their innovations.

The fund is a development program established to support projects that advance the commercial value of Purdue intellectual property. The fund makes awards twice a year to aid faculty and staff with their patented innovations that are being commercialized through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization.

There are three Trask Innovation Fund tracks: Innovation Sparks for Life Science; Innovation Sparks for Physical Sciences; and Commercialization Partner Spark.

The Purdue researchers receiving funding this round:

• Young Kim, Scalable production and deposition of luminescent silk microparticles for ‘on-dose’ medicine authentication. (track: life science)
• Pavlos Vlachos, Automated analysis for improved heart health. (track: life science)
• Philip Low, Development of targeted therapies for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. (track: commercialization)
• Yoon Yeo, Abxtal for cancer immunotherapy. (track: commercialization)
• James Caruthers, Composite board binder systems from rice lignin. (track: physical sciences)
• Arman Sabbaghi, Enhancing the commercial value of AMapi: An API for additive manufacturing systems. (track: physical sciences)

“Researchers submitted a lot of technologies worthy of OTC’s investment to create solutions through the Purdue commercialization ecosystem and Purdue’s growing Discovery Park District,” said Abhijit Karve, director of business development for the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization.

Purdue inventors who are prepared to move their innovations to market have until Sept.

25 to apply for funding through the Trask Innovation Fund.

All Purdue faculty, staff and researchers who have submitted a disclosure to OTC are eligible to submit proposals.

To learn more about these and other Purdue technologies, contact OTC at otcip@prf.org or visit the OTC Inventions page at https://inventions.prf.org/.

About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. The office recently moved into the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus. In fiscal year 2019, the office reported 136 deals finalized with 231 technologies signed, 380 disclosures received and 141 issued U.S. patents. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. In 2020, IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org for more information.    

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.  

Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org 

Source: Abhijit Karve, aakarve@prf.org