MIT’s Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation is doling out $600,000 in grants to eight research teams at the institute to foster the development of early-stage technologies in the composite materials, diagnostics, disease therapies, drug discovery, diabetes treatment, high power electronics, energy efficient displays and sensors fields.
The cash will fund proof-of-concept research and validation, according to a press release, helping recipients assess and reduce the technical and market risks associated with the inventions.
The grants go to:
- MEMS for Large Area and Flexible Applications: Vladimir Bulovic. A flexible, paper-thin micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) array that can be used for sensing and actuation over large surfaces.
- Device for Treatment of Cerebral Edema: Michael J. Cima. A drug delivery device to treat brain edema with reduced systemic side-effects typical of conventional treatments.
- Stable Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Light Emitting Diodes: Karen Gleason. Long-lived LEDs on flexible substrates providing energy efficient portable displays. (Renewal from fall 2008 grant round.)
- A Novel Device for Label-free Cell Rolling Separation: Rohit Karnik and Jeffrey Karp. A device for separating cells that could be used for the monitoring and diagnosis of a wide variety of diseases. (Renewal from fall 2008 grant round.)
- A Wearable Sensor for Continuous Glucose Monitoring for Diabetics: Michael Strano. A carbon nanotube based, minimally invasive, tissue implantable, glucose sensor. The sensor will allow continuous glucose monitoring for diabetes patients, resulting in improved glucose regulation and better health.
- Chemical Production of Functionalized Graphene for Enhanced Composite Materials: Timothy Swager. The development of a chemical process to produce graphene at a very reasonable cost, leading to the industrial use of new composite materials.
- Nano-engineered Surfaces for Ultra High Power Density Thermal Management: Kripa Varanasi. Heat needs to be removed rapidly from high power electronics or the semiconductors will fail. This project will develop a system to very rapidly dissipate large amount of heat from such devices.
- New Antibiotic Target: Graham Walker. A project to attempt to isolate lead compounds to develop a new antibiotic. (Renewal from fall 2008 grant round.)
The center has awarded about $10 million in grants to more than 70 MIT research projects since 2002. Eighteen projects were spun out as startup companies, raising a collective $150 million in outside financing.
