Researchers from VentureAccelerator, MIPS Companies Win UM "Invention of the Year" Awards

Researchers from VentureAccelerator company FlexEl LLC and Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) project award winner Remedium Technologies won University of Maryland "Invention of the Year" awards.

In the Physical Science category, FlexEl's Prof. Martin Peckerar (ECE/ISR) and Prof. Neil Goldsman (ECE/ISR) won for their invention, titled "World's Highest Energy Density Thin-Film Battery." The researchers developed an improved, thin-film battery prototype to respond to the need for more power-efficient electronic devices in a variety of applications. The millimeter-thick, high-density, rechargeable batteries offer the world's highest energy storage density among thin-film batteries. Remotely rechargeable, the batteries gather energy from environmental sources, such as solar energy, vibrations and radio waves. They can even recharge by simply pointing a cell phone at them.

The batteries are flexible, meaning they can conform to nearly any shape and act as part of an electronic device's packaging. They attach to microchips, sensors, RFID chips, and small electronic components. The batteries are comprised entirely of environmentally friendly materials. The new batteries will make possible a number of stronger, smaller products, including wireless sensor networks, active RFID, wearable electronics and medical devices. Yves Ngu, Zeynip Dilli and George Metze from the National Security Agency also worked on this project.

In the Life Science category, Remedium's Matt Dowling (a graduate student in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering) and Srini Raghavan (chemical and biomolecular engineering associate professor) were honored for their "nano-velcro" chitosan-based bandage, which could significantly reduce mortality rates among cases with uncontrollable bleeding. The researchers collaborated with Dr. John Hess and Dr. Grant Bochicchio from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The awards are presented annually by the University of Maryland Office of Technology Commercialization to honor outstanding inventions and inventors from the previous year. Each year a panel of judges made up of both University of Maryland personnel and industry experts selects one winner from groups of finalists in each of three categories: life science, information science, and physical science. The winners are chosen based on the creativity, novelty, and potential benefit to society of each of the inventions.

Thanks to Ted Knight, ECE, for the awards ceremony photo.

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