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Governor McAuliffe announces Research Commercialization Fund awards

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virginiaGovernor Terry McAuliffe announced today 38 Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) awards totaling more than $2.8 million to fund targeted areas of promising research and commercialization, including advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and energy and life sciences.

Governor McAuliffe said, “The CRCF program advances research with potential for economic growth in Virginia. In order to compete with other states and globally, we must focus on early stage economic development. These investments are planting seeds that are helping us grow the new Virginia economy.”

Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson added, “CRCF provides seed funding necessary to advance cutting-edge research and promote the commercialization of exciting new technologies.”

Managed by the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), the CRCF is aligned with and guided by the Commonwealth Research and Technology (R&T) Strategic Roadmap.  During this round, applications were invited under six programs — Commercialization, Eminent Researcher Recruitment, Facilities Enhancement, Matching Funds, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Matching Funds and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Matching Funds — to support the private sector, academia and nonprofit research institutes across the state.

The following CRCF proposals will be awarded, contingent upon acceptance of award terms and conditions:

Commercialization Program

  • AXON AI, LLC (Harrisonburg), Echosight Modeling and Prediction Software, Dr. Sven Brueckner, $50,000, Modeling and Simulation
  • Axon Ghost Sentinel (Harrisonburg), Internet-of-Things Security, Mr. Michael Markulec, $50,000, Cybersecurity
  • CyberRock Inc. (Clifton), CyberTrack: Automated Attack Attribution across Large-Scale Networks in Real Time, Dr. Xinyuan Wang, $50,000, Cybersecurity
  • DialySensors LLC (Floyd), Dialysensing: Improving the Efficacy and Patient Outcomes of Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis through the Use of Raman Spectroscopy and Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Dr. John Robertson, $50,000, Life Sciences
  • eTrans2020, Inc. (Fairfax), Connected Vehicle Validation and Security, Mr. Manuel Villar, $50,000, Cybersecurity
  • Ischemalert, LLC (Herndon), Point-of-Care Device for Detection of Acute Cardiac Ischemia, Mr. Gerard Eldering, $49,776, Life Sciences
  • Key Cybersecurity, Inc. (Dumfries), CyberMerlin Illicit File Activity (IFA) Detection Solution, Mr. Shawn Key, $50,000, Cybersecurity
  • RioGin (Charlottesville), In Vivo Validation of PYY Antiobesity Drug with Weekly Administration, Dr. Cyrille Gineste, $50,000, Life Sciences
  • RioGin (Charlottesville), Long-Lasting HIV Entry Inhibitors, Dr. Cyrille Gineste, $50,000, Life Sciences
  • Syncurity Corporation (Falls Church), Syncurity Forensic Artifact Collection, Mr. Jean Bourget, $50,000, Cybersecurity
  • Tympanogen (Norfolk), A Novel Gel Patch for Nonsurgical Treatment of Eardrum Perforations, Dr. Elaine Horn-Ranney, $49,489, Life Sciences

Eminent Researcher Recruitment Program

  • Eastern Virginia Medical School (Norfolk), Recruitment of Eminent Investigator in HealthCare Science and Discovery Research, Dr. Jerry Nadler, $250,000, Life Sciences

Matching Funds Program

  • College of William and Mary (Williamsburg), Reducing Smartphone Application Delay through Read/Write Isolation, Dr. Gang Zhou, $99,998, Information Technology
  • Commonwealth Center for Advanced Logistics Systems (Prince George), Aviation Drop-In Biofuels: Sustainable Supply Chain in Virginia in Support of Farm-to-Fly 2.0 and State Agricultural/Economic Objectives, Dr. James Lambert, $99,988, Energy
  • Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (Disputanta), High Speed Telemetry for Machining, Mr. Benjamin Zimmerman, $100,000, Advanced Manufacturing
  • Eastern Virginia Eye Institute (Chesapeake), Corneal Endothelial Allograft Transport and Transplant Device, Dr. Sandeep Samudre, $100,000, Life Sciences
  • Old Dominion University Research Foundation (Norfolk), Development of Hybrid Boron Nitride/Carbon Nanotubes Supercapacitors for High-Density Energy Storage, Dr. Gon Namkoong, $100,000, Energy
  • Old Dominion University Research Foundation (Norfolk), Real-Time Fusion of Medical Images for Personalized Image Guided Diagnosis and Therapy, Dr. Nicolaos Chrisochoides, $100,000, Life Sciences
  • The George Washington University (Ashburn), A Wireless Wearable Electrocardiogram (ECG) Sensor on a Finger Ring, Dr. Zhenyu Li, $100,000, Life Sciences
  • University of Virginia (Charlottesville), Accelerating Data Analytics (Bioinformatics) Applications Using the Automata Processor, Dr. Mircea Stan, $100,000, Information Technology
  • University of Virginia (Charlottesville), Insulin-ORAL Renewal Application, Dr. Mark Kester, $100,000, Life Sciences
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), A Modeling and Simulation Hub for Straintronic Logic and Memory Technology, Dr. Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, $100,000, Modeling and Simulation
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), Nano-Inspired Electrolytes and Cathode Materials for a New Generation of Li and Na-Ion Batteries, Dr. Puru Jena, $100,000, Energy
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), Rapid Measurement of Plasma Antithrombin, Dr. Umesh Desai, $100,000, Life Sciences
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), Rehab Fingerprint A Patient Centered System to Measure the Impact of Physical Rehabilitation, Dr. Peter Pidcoe, $29,263, Life Sciences
  • Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Gloucester Point), Eliminating Plastic Shotgun Wads as a Source of Harmful Aquatic Debris, Dr. Kirk Havens, $83,971, Advanced Manufacturing
  • Virginia Tech (Blacksburg), Energy-Harvesting Vehicle Suspensions, Dr. Lei Zhou, $100,000, Energy
  • Virginia Tech (Blacksburg), Novel Coatings to Prevent Bacterial Colonization of Medical Implants, Dr. William Ducker, $99,704, Life Sciences

SBIR Matching Funds Program

  • BlueTherm Corp. (Charlottesville), Thermal Management for Energy Efficient Computing, Mr. Carl Bailey, $50,000, Energy
  • Cell Free Bioinnovations Inc. (Blacksburg), Developing a Sugar Biobattery with High-Power and High-Energy-Density, Dr. Zhiguang Zhu, $50,000, Life Sciences
  • D-Tech, LLC (Herndon), A Dynamic and Scalable Identity Federator for Enhanced Cloud Security, Dr. Nick Duan, $50,000, Cybersecurity
  • Ghodousi, LLC (Alexandria), Assistive Digital Vision for the Blind, Dr. Arman Ghodousi, $50,000, Advanced Manufacturing
  • PaneraTech, Inc. (Chantilly), IMECSFab for Inline Inspection of Touch Sensors, Dr. Yakup Bayram, $49,963, Advanced Manufacturing
  • SoundPipe LLC (Charlottesville), Co-Injection Drug Delivery with Contrast-Enhanced Intravascular Ultrasound, Dr. Joseph Kilroy, $50,000, Life Sciences
  • SoundPipe LLC (Charlottesville), Patient Tailored 3D Drug Delivery with Intravascular Ultrasound, Dr. Joseph Kilroy, $50,000, Life Sciences
  • StemCellLife LLC (Richmond), Highly Bioactive, Synthetic Peptides Coated Cultureware for the Culture of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, Dr. Xiaoyan Liu, $50,000, Life Sciences

STTR Matching Funds Program

  • Cambrian Design and Development LLC (Blacksburg), Objective Tremor Detection System for Continuous Monitoring, Assessment, and Treatment Planning for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Mr. Michael Abbott, $49,992, Life Sciences
  • VoltMed Inc. (Blacksburg), Minimally Invasive Surgical Platform for H-FIRE and Chemotherapy Treatment, Dr. Paulo Garcia, $50,000, Life Sciences

This list, along with award recipients from previous solicitations, can also be accessed at http://www.cit.org/initiatives/crcf-awards/.

About the CRCF and R&T Roadmap

The Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) advances science- and technology-based research, development and commercialization to drive economic growth in the Commonwealth and create and foster high potential technology companies.

In support of the Commonwealth’s overall plan to maximize the return on investment of taxpayer dollars and to enhance economic development, CRCF awards must further the goals set forth in the Commonwealth Research and Technology (R&T) Strategic Roadmap, a comprehensive planning tool the Commonwealth uses to identify research areas worthy of economic development and institutional focus. It provides elected and other officials with priorities in key industry sectors that have commercial promise and that are eligible for new CRCF awards.

Guiding the development of the Roadmap and oversight of the CRCF, including by making CRCF award recommendations to the CIT Board, is the Research and Technology Investment Advisory Committee (RTIAC), comprised of university, industry and economic development experts.

About the Center for Innovative Technology, www.cit.org

Since 1985, CIT, a nonprofit corporation, has been a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. CIT accelerates the next generation of technology and technology companies through commercialization, capital formation, market development and revenue generation services. To facilitate national innovation leadership and accelerate the rate of technology adoption, CIT creates partnerships between innovative technology start-up companies and advanced technology consumers.

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