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2015 Innovation Celebration

The fifth annual MSU Innovation Celebration was Thursday, April 23, 2015, 4-6 p.m. in the Huntington Club on the 4th floor of Spartan Stadium.

This networking reception showcases innovative technologies and startups developed in campus labs, classrooms and beyond. We honor MSU researchers who reported an invention, licensed a technology or were awarded patents during the academic year, and recognize the winners of awards for innovation and achievement in technology transfer.

Keynote speaker Dr. Eric Fossum is one of the world’s experts in solid-state image sensors, and a professor at Thayer School of Engineering in Dartmouth College. He invented the CMOS active pixel image sensor used in almost all cellphone cameras, webcams, digital cameras and in medical imaging, among other applications. He worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was CEO of two successful tech companies, and is a serial entrepreneur.

The MSU Innovation Center also celebrates the inaugural MSU Chapter members of the National Academy of Inventors.

Showcased technologies include:

  • Geo Yields: Precision Agricultural Technology
    (TEC2014-0011)
    Bruno Basso | NAT SCI/Geological Sciences
    Via MSUToday: MSU Lands First Drone
  • Phenometric Plant Growth Chamber
    (TEC2015-0021)
    David Kramer | MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, NAT SCI/Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
    Via MSUToday: MSU Advances Algae’s Viability as a Biofuel
  • UNRAVEL: A Cognitive Task for Measuring Human Performance
    (TEC2014-0122)
    Erik Altmann | SOC SCI/Dept of Psychology
    Via MSUToday: Brief Interruptions Spawn Errors
  • Transparent Solar Technology
    (TEC2014-0088, TEC2013-0066, TEC2012-0100, TEC2012-0086)
    Richard Lunt | EGR/Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
    Via MSUToday: Solar Energy That Doesn’t Block the View
  • Carbon Fiber Technology for Graphite & Composite Technology
    (TEC2010-0014, TEC2010-0047. TEC2009-0029, TEC2008-0074, and TEC2008-0042)
    Larry Drzal | EGR/Composite Materials and Structures Center, EGR/Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
  • Variable Optical Control for Data Communication
    (TEC2014-0085)
    Nelson Sepúlveda-Alancastro | EGR/Electrical & Computer Engineering
  • Purification Membrane for Protein Biotheraputics
    (TEC2012-0057)
    Merlin Bruening | NAT SCI/Chemistry
    Via MSUToday: MSU Invention Could Help Pharmaceutical Industry Save Money
  • Osteoporosis Technologies
    (TEC2013-0086)
    Laura McCabe | NAT SCI/Physiology, MSU Radiology, MSU Toxicology
    Via MSUToday: Females Fend off Gut Disease
  • MSU Startup: TreeBorn Products
    Brian Polowniak, CEO
    Dennis Fulbright, CTO
  • MSU/Student Startup: TheraB Medical
    Ryan Jankovic, CEO
  • MSU Student Startup: Tech Twurl
    Usman Majeed
    Patrick Chouinard
    Russell Schafer
  • MSU Student Startup: OneSound
    Adam Schoonmaker
    Phil Prescher
    Ryan Casler
    Tanay Salpekar

2015 Innovation of the Year II

Dr. Merlin Bruening Professor in the Department of Chemistry The technology Dr. Bruening conducted research on is a method of rapidly and elegantly generating a high density of functionalized membranes at controlled pH. These membranes are useful for an array of applications related to protein purification. The membrane generation process is easily implemented, scalable,...

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2015 Innovation of the Year I

Transparent Solar Technology Dr. Richard Lunt Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science Transparent solar concentrators can be deployed on existing infrastructure to discretely harvest solar energy. Former attempts at transparent photovoltaics have fallen short, coloring or dimming the light that passed through them. Now, new solar materials can be...

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2015 Innovator of the Year

Subsurface Water Retention Technology (SWRT) Dr. Alvin Smucker Professor of Soil Biophysics in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Dr. Smucker’s research focuses on water retention of soils, particularly the application of subsurface water retention technologies. Drawing on decades of research on plant root systems, Dr. Smucker filed seven invention disclosures with MSU...

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