UWM Research Foundation Announces New Catalyst Grants
The Catalyst Grant Program invests in promising early-stage research at UWM, fostering commercialization of new technology.
UWM Union. Photo by Dave Reid.
Six new research projects at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have received Catalyst Grant seed funding from the UWM Research Foundation, including online plugins that help “unexpected writers” and a potential method of keeping genetically modified plants from passing on their altered traits to other crops.
The Catalyst Grant Program invests in promising early-stage research at UWM, fostering commercialization of new technology. Now in its ninth year, the program has awarded more than $4 million for 82 projects.
Three projects were awarded a total of $150,000 from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. These grants support promising research and development in areas where UWM has the greatest potential to affect the regional economy through commercialization activities. The awardees include:
- Responsive Writing Solutions
Dave Clark is developing online tools to help organizations save time and money by providing training and feedback to “unexpected writers” – those who have a technical background but spend a disproportionate amount of time writing.
- Snapshot 3-D Optical Tomography
Yongjin Sung’s research on this kind of biomedical imaging reduces object movement artifacts by capturing several hundred images simultaneously.
- New Methods for Creating Genetically Modified Plants
With this funding Dazhong Zhao will work to create switchgrass that can turn its fertility on or off, helping in the production of biomass without posing a risk to natural crops.
Three additional projects are supported by GE Healthcare Catalyst Grants, totaling more than $194,000. These grants focus on research in advanced computational imaging and are part of an effort by GE Healthcare to build a pipeline of Wisconsin-based medical imaging software developers and researchers to drive the next generation of healthcare technology globally.
- Cost-Effective Uninterruptible Power Supply with Load Leveling for CT Systems
Adel Nasiri continues his research from last year’s GE Healthcare grant on a system with a high-power density battery to improve reliability and efficiency of CT machines.
- Scatter Correction for X-ray Panels
Jun Zhang continues his research from last year’s GE Healthcare grant to develop scatter correction algorithms that will improve X-ray and CT image quality.
- MRF Optimization for Detector Array Manufacturing
Jun Zhang will provide an algorithm that can automatically optimize the system, replacing the need for manual calibrations.
About UWM
As Wisconsin’s only public urban research university, UWM has established an international reputation for excellence in research, community engagement, teaching and entrepreneurism. On an operating budget of $705 million, UWM educates more than 28,000 students and is an engine for innovation in southeastern Wisconsin. The Princeton Review named UWM a “2015 Best in the Midwest” university based on overall academic excellence and student reviews. Its economic impact is more than $1.5 billion per year in Wisconsin alone.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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