For the second year, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is supporting entrepreneurial research led by UT faculty with Chancellor’s Innovation Fund awards of $50,000 for each project. This year’s winning researchers are testing an implantable prosthetic thumb, developing humanoid robots, protecting the national soybean crop, improving data collection for manufacturing, and creating aluminum-air batteries.
The Chancellor’s Innovation Fund was developed in 2023 to strengthen East Tennessee’s entrepreneurial network and support faculty who want to bring their technology to market.
The recipients, who were honored at an award ceremony on Feb. 18, were chosen through a rigorous process that included a pitch competition during which they described the benefits of their technology and how the funding would help them commercialize the ideas.
Evaluations of the projects were based on their ability to address an unmet market need, the current state of technology, the proposed technology development plan and the funding’s impact on commercialization. UT Research Foundation supported the program by evaluating proposals and providing three dedicated coaching sessions – a crash course in delivering a compelling five-minute business pitch.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such brilliant innovators and to witness their enthusiasm for learning something entirely new,” said Marc A. Nabhan, UT’s assistant director of entrepreneurship and new ventures. “Their performance in the pitch competition was nothing short of inspiring, and I look forward to continuing to support and shape our world-class researchers into entrepreneurial visionaries.”
Full story: University of Tennessee names 2025 Chancellor | EurekAlert!
