SU professors win up to $50,000 in funding competition

The Center for Advanced Systems and Engineering at Syracuse University has announced the winners of its first University-Industry Seed Funding Competition.

All participants in the competition were researchers paired with New York state companies, and the winners were chosen by an external panel, according to an SU News release. Each winner received an award of up to $50,000 for further university-based research and development.

The three winners of the competition are Sara Eftekharnejad, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science; Utpal Roy, director of the mechanical engineering program and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; and Amit Sanyal, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, according to the release.

Each winner focused on a different industry sector for their company project — Eftekharnejad partnered with Greenview Energy Management Systems to work on renewable energy, Roy partnered with FilterTech, Inc. to develop advanced manufacturing systems and Sanyal partnered with ANDRO Computational Solutions LLC to create unmanned or autonomous air vehicles, said Pramod Varshney, director of CASE.

Any SU faculty member partnered with a New York state company to conduct research could have participated in the competition, which was first announced in October 2015, according to the release. For the competition, the company research is focused on creating a positive economic impact for the company and the state of New York, whether that be through innovation, revenues or jobs.

Jeffrey Stanton, interim dean of the School of Information Studies, said in an email that the purpose of the competition is to connect faculty researchers with local companies to create partnerships for new products and services.

“While it is true that faculty members come up with interesting ideas all the time, it is often difficult to commercialize these ideas, particularly in the early stage when outside investors are not ready to participate,” Stanton said. “These seed funding grants help the university-industry partnerships get through that initial, difficult phase of commercialization.”

The winners of the competition have the potential to create new employment opportunities in New York state — and these companies will hopefully hire SU graduates in the future, Stanton said.

Established in the 1980s, CASE, which hosted the competition, is one of several university centers of advanced technology funded by New York state, Stanton said.

Varshney said CASE — a university-wide center that works with all of SU’s schools and colleges — is graded by the state on how well it is doing in terms of showing significant economic impact. He said this motivated those involved with the program to start this competition for New York state companies to participate in.

“We are hoping to get the companies to engage with the university so the companies can flourish and have an impact on the state’s economy,” Varshney said.

The monetary awards each company received, Varshney said, will be used by SU graduate students involved with CASE to help develop new ideas and products that can then be used by the particular company to move their projects forward. The companies will then be able to apply for grants in the future, he added.

SU faculty members and students involved with CASE work with industry partners to “turn raw data into useable knowledge, creating tools and delivering insights that capitalize on the vast quantities of digital information flooding the marketplace,” according to the release.

Stanton said one of the “most powerful” learning experiences a student can have while at SU is to get involved in research with a faculty member. He added that SU has many faculty members involved in well-known research.

“Creating new knowledge is one of the key missions of a university, and students have an important part to play in that process,” Stanton said.

Later in the year, CASE is planning to announce the second round of the University-Industry Seed Funding Competition in conjunction with a conference and Technology Showcase, according to the release.