July 19, 2021
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
Here’s an opportunity for Hajim School faculty and students to participate in what is being touted as the largest incentive prize in history. Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation are offering prizes totaling $100 million to individual innovators and teams who can create and demonstrate solutions to pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans, and sequester it durably and sustainably. The four-year global competition includes these levels of prizes:
- Student Awards totaling $5 million for proposals by student-led teams to fund participation in the main competition or the development of key supportive technologies. Submission deadline: October 1, 2021. Awards to be announced in November 2021.
- Up to 15 Milestone Awards of $1 million each for the best of all submissions received by Feb. 1, 2022. Registration deadline: December 1, 2021. Awards to be announced April 22, 2022.
- $50 million paid to the single Grand Prize Winner at the end of the competition.
- $30 million to be distributed among up to 3 runners up at the end of the competition.
We have several Hajim School faculty members and students doing work in this area, including Grand Challenges scholars. I hope we will have several entries! Read more.
UR INNOVATION CHALLENGE
Here’s an opportunity for our undergraduate and graduate students–and our Grand Challenges Scholars–to work closely with Rochester community partners on developing strategies to improve health and education, address poverty, and promote equity, all while tackling climate change. The UR Innovation Challenge: Building Sustainable Futures–previously known as the COVID-19 Challenge–will be held starting next Monday, July 26 through August 9.
Teams of two to four students will address problem statements from their assigned community partners. Workshops, mentoring, and one-on-one time with partners will be offered to help students develop their solutions, which will be pitched to a panel of judges. Three prizes–$1,500, $1,000 and $500–will be awarded to the winners. Participation counts toward fulfilling the entrepreneurship or service components of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. The deadline to register is 11:59 p.m. this Wednesday, July 21.
Thanks to the Barbara J. Burger iZone, Center for Community Engagement, Ain Center for Entrepreneurship, The Greene Center for Career Education & Connections, and Studio X for hosting this event.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Nanoparticles have great potential for delivering therapeutic drugs to specific locations in the body, increasing the drugs’ potency and reducing side effects. However, the poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and other “anti-fouling” materials used as coatings to stabilize and protect nanoparticles from proteins in blood too often trigger an immune response. The nanoparticles end up being absorbed into the mononuclear phagocyte system, whose cells engulf and destroy bacteria, viruses, and, of particular relevance to this work, other foreign substances, and can potentially trigger an antibody-mediated immune response. This problem was highlighted when a small number of people who received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine suffered severe allergic reactions, believed to be triggered by the PEG used on the nanoparticles that deliver the vaccine’s active ingredient, messenger RNA.
An impressive team of researchers led by Danielle Benoit, professor of biomedical engineering, director of the Materials Science Program, and an expert in nanoparticle drug delivery systems, will address this problem with support of a $543,982 grant from the National Science Foundation. Danielle’s collaborators are co-PI’s Andrew White, associate professor of chemical engineering and an expert in computer-designed molecular simulation who is also affiliated with the Materials Science Program, and Minsoo Kim, professor of microbiology and immunology and of pharmacology and physiology at the Medical Center.
The goal is to develop computationally designed zwitterionic peptides with semi-randomized sequences (srZIPs) to create a new class of more diverse anti-fouling options that will help nanoparticles better evade the body’s immune system and end up at their intended targets. This will also help minimize allergic reactions and other long-term immunological side effects. Congratulations to Danielle, Andrew, and Minsoo. This exciting collaboration is a result of the biomedical materials interdisciplinary research group – one of six key research groups established in the Materials Science Program since Danielle took over as director.
CONGRATULATIONS TO . . .
Radha Bahukutumbi, distinguished scientist in the Theory Division at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, who is a recipient of the Fusion Power Associates (FPA) 2021 Leadership Award, presented to individuals demonstrating outstanding leadership qualities in accelerating the development of fusion as a commercial power source. Radha is being recognized for her decades of outstanding contributions to the direct-drive physics program at OMEGA and the National Ignition Facility, and also for being a vocal early leader and champion for young scientists and students, especially women and underrepresented minorities. The award will be presented at the Fusion Power Associates 42nd Annual Meeting and Symposium in Washington, D.C. in December.
DATA SCIENCE FUNDING
Faculty and principal investigators interested in promoting the transfer of data science technology to New York companies can apply for funding of up to $60,000 from the University’s Center of Excellence in Data Science.
Proposed projects must involve a NY industry partner and can span a broad range of data-science related technologies and domains. Ranking will be strongly dependent on the potential of the proposed project to generate economic impact. (Details here.)
Submit proposals by July 31 to Margaret Urzetta as attachments using the forms at www.sas.rochester.edu/dsc/coe/funding.html. Questions about the Center’s Collaborative Research Funding Program may be addressed to the center’s director, Mujdat Cetin.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
