Patents issued to Chang, Sung, Silva

Woo Jin Chang
Yongjin Sung
Marcia Silva

The UWM Research Foundation Awards in March recognized researchers campus-wide who were inventors for patents issued in 2020.

Congratulations to:

Woo Jin Chang, associate professor, mechanical engineering, who was awarded the patent Contamination Detection Device and Method.

Chang collaborated with researchers at UW-Madison to create a novel, heavy-metal sensor. The research was funded by the Water Equipment & Policy Center and boosted by participation in the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps Program. The sensor is now licensed by three WEP members, non-exclusively, and Chang is working with Baker Manufacturing to develop and test a prototype of a low-cost, portable, heavy-metal sensor that could be used on-site to detect lead in water in two minutes or less. Read more about Chang’s work with Baker.

Yongjin Sung, associate professor, mechanical and biomedical engineering, who was awarded the patent Snapshot Optical Tomography System and Method of Acquiring an Image with a System.

This quick and accurate imaging device uses holography and tomography to provide real-time snapshots of cells or materials in 3D. It could be used in biological sampling and for quality insurance to detect impurities or contaminants in samples. Read more about Sung’s research.

Marcia Silva, an adjunct professor in the college and director of the Water Technology Accelerator, and David Garman, founding dean (retired) of the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences, were awarded the patent Porous Decontamination Removal Composition.

The technology uses modified zeolite material that can remove phosphorous from contaminated water sources; the phosphorous and the porous mineral material can be recovered for reuse. The technology is licensed by ZAPL.

Watts Water, a WEP member, licensed (non-exclusively) two other of Silva’s technologies: a biofilm sensor and zeolite-based water pollutant adsorbent material.

Read more about Silva’s research here.

Watch the 13-minute video of the UWM Research Foundation Awards, 2021 here.