Four groups of Oklahoma State University students, faculty and industry mentors have each been selected to receive $50,000 grants and additional mentoring through the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program.
The OSU I-Corps program, part of the School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business, is one of only 99 throughout the country, and only one of a handful based in a business college.
“We are incredibly proud of these teams being accepted into the I-Corps National Program where they will explore the commercial potential of their research” said Richard Gajan, director of OSU I-Corps Site Program.
The four OSU teams recognized for qualifying for nationals are:
Ghost Display
- The team is working to develop an infrared projection screen, which can offer an extremely large display screen with superior quality at a reasonable price.
- Entrepreneurial lead: Gijun Seo, OSU doctoral student majoring in material science and engineering.
- Co-entrepreneurial lead: Matthew Bamidele, OSU master’s in chemistry student.
- Investigator: Dr. DoYoung Kim, OSU assistant professor of materials science and engineering.
- Industry mentor: Hans Cho, United States Naval Research Laboratory.
- They are currently participating in a virtual nationals program in Washington, D.C.
Microbe Finder (MiFi)
- Microbe Finder is a software platform which utilizes E-Probes to search next generation sequencing tissue sample data files to make fast pathogen diagnoses.
- Entrepreneurial lead: Dr. Andres Espindola Camacho, assistant research professor in the OSU National Institute of Microbial Forensics in Food and Agriculture Biosecurity (NIMFFAB).
- Investigator: Dr. Kitty F. Cardwell, professor in the OSU Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and director of NIMFFAB.
- Industry mentor: Dr. Georgios Vidalakis, professor and extension specialist in plant pathology at the University of California in Riverside.
- They are currently trying to schedule participation in nationals in the fall.
The Membrane Team
- This team is working on a ceramic membrane to treat produced water.
- Entrepreneurial lead: Shailesh Dangwal, OSU doctoral student in the chemical engineering.
- Technical lead: Dr. Seok-Jhin Kim, assistant professor of chemical engineering.
- Industry mentor: John R. Grizz Deal, who has nearly 30 years of experience in technology commercialization, tech-based startups, fast-growing ventures and product development.
- This team is currently participating in a virtual nationals program in Austin, Texas.
Paldara Pharmaceuticals
- Paldara Pharmaceuticals is developing an innovative antimicrobial gel coating to be sold to and used by existing urinary catheter manufacturers.
- Entrepreneurial lead: Beau Blanchard, OSU master’s student studying entrepreneurship.
- Product expert: William Colton, an OSU sophomore studying microbiology.
- Business advisor: David Thomison, OSU clinical assistant professor and George Kaiser Foundation Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship.
- Technical advisor: Dr. Matthew Cabeen, OSU assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics.
- Industry mentor: Jacob Mahaffey, OSU adjunct professor of entrepreneurship and assistant director of Cowboy Technologies.
- This team is in the process of scheduling its nationals program.
