Identifying proteins for new drugs to treat triple-negative breast cancer. Creating a threat-modeling system to enhance cybersecurity in manufacturing. Developing an improved material for solar cells. These are among the projects from the College of Engineering & Applied Science funded through the latest round of UWM Research Foundation’s Catalyst Grants.
The Catalyst Grant program is designed to seed-fund research in areas where UWM has the greatest potential to impact the regional economy through commercialization. The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation has provided continued support for the program since 2007. New this year, Invenergy has provided support specifically for clean energy research.
Since its inception, the Catalyst Grant program has provided $6 million for projects that have led to 18 UWM startup companies campuswide. The investment has yielded 66 issued patents, 50 pending patents, 30 license/option agreements and more than $40.7 million in follow-on funding to date.
In addition to the Bradley Foundation support, other donors over the years include the Rockwell Automation Charitable Corporation, the Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation, GE HealthCare and Clarios.
This round of grants went to:
Identifying breast cancer-fighting proteins from healthy cells
Qingsu Cheng, biomedical engineering
Cheng is investigating proteins naturally secreted by human cells that inhibit the growth of triple-negative breast cancer cells. Using organoids derived from real patient tumors, he aims to identify proteins that can be developed into small-molecule drugs, offering a cost-effective treatment for this aggressive cancer.
Improving cybersecurity for advanced manufacturing
Zhen Zeng, computer science
Zeng plans to create a threat-modeling system to enhance cybersecurity in complex advanced manufacturing systems. By automating repetitive tasks and integrating threat intelligence, this large language model-assisted tool seeks to significantly reduce the time and effort required for threat modeling.
Developing low-cost materials for better solar panels
Nikolai Kouklin, materials science & engineering, and Konstantin Sobolev, civil & environmental engineering
The researchers aim to develop a cost-effective and scalable alternative material for solar cells and other optoelectronic devices. They are using zinc oxide phosphate films to enhance efficiency and environmental sustainability, overcoming the challenges of the current material.
A device to safely test anchors in concrete structures
Jian Zhao, civil & environmental engineering, and Nathan Salowitz, mechanical engineering
Joining a steel structure with concrete requires drilling a hole in the hardened concrete and inserting a metal anchor with an adhesive that forms a chemical bond with the surfaces. But improper installation or aging can lead to defects in the adhesive-concrete interface. This research team is developing a “smart cap nut” that generates and measures micro-vibrations to detect such defects that often are not visible.