HELLER, MARSILLAC RECEIVE STATE COMMERCIALIZATION GRANT AWARDS
Two Old Dominion University researchers have received grants under the second round of awards from the Center for Innovative Technology's (CIT) 2012 Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund.
The grants to ODU, totaling $400,000, are among 22 CIT awards totaling $3.1 million, created with the purpose of funding targeted areas of research with commercial promise aligned with the Commonwealth Research and Technology Strategic Roadmap. The grant-winning projects were selected from more than 100 eligible proposals.
Richard Heller, professor and director of ODU's Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics, was awarded a $250,000 grant under the CIT's Eminent Resercher Recruitment Program.
The Reidy Center, founded in 2002 as the world's first bioelectric research center, has been recognized with numerous federal and state grants. The mission of the center is to increase scientific knowledge and understanding of how intense, pulsed electromagnetic fields and cold ionized gases interact with biological systems and to apply this knowledge to the development of medical diagnostics and therapeutics as well as environmental decontamination.
Sylvain Marsillac, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in ODU's Batten College of Engineering and Technology, received a $150,000 grant under the CIT's matching funds program. The grant, through the Old Dominion University Research Foundation, is for "Embedded Health Monitoring for Large-Scale Solar Power Systems."
Marsillac, who has been at ODU for two years, is assembling a 5,000-watt solar panel on the roof of the Batten College's Kaufman Building with help from a grant from Dominion Power. The panel will comprise part of the ODU Photovoltaic Laboratory, created by Marsillac to test solar cells from fabrication through performance as part of solar panels.
In two years, Marsillac has received more than $2 million in grant funding for his research into photovoltaic energy.
The CIT is the state-chartered, nonprofit corporation that conducts the business of Virginia's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority, creating new technology companies through capital formation, market development and revenue generation services. ODU researchers have been recognized in every round of CIT funding awards, in part a recognition of the school's commitment to research and collaboration with industry partners.