U News | The University of Memphis awards seven commercialization grants
The University of Louisville has been selected to operate a Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub for the state of Kentucky.
From the University of Memphis:
The University of Memphis (UofM) FedEx Institute of Technology and its Office of Technology Transfer have announced the recipients of their 2025–26 commercialization grants, awarding funding to seven faculty-led research projects that demonstrate strong potential for market impact.
Designed to turn breakthroughs into products, services, and start-ups, the grants provide targeted, milestone-driven support that helps UofM researchers de-risk innovations, build prototypes, validate markets, and position technologies for licensing or venture formation.
These grants support the University’s mission to advance innovation and entrepreneurship by providing targeted funding to help researchers move promising technologies closer to commercialization. Each project funded this year represents a distinct example of how the University of Memphis research translates into practical, real-world solutions.
Click here to learn the names of the researchers funded.
From the Georgia Institute of Technology:
Modern warfare and the technology behind it are evolving. Around the world, the skies are increasingly filled with small, agile, and intelligent systems — drones, missiles, and interceptors that demand lightweight, affordable, and highly efficient propulsion. The future of defense is fast, adaptable, and precise — and Georgia is positioning itself at the center of that transformation.
When PBS Aerospace (PBS), a global leader in small turbojet engines, began searching for a location to build its first U.S. manufacturing facility, it didn’t look to the traditional defense hubs. Instead, it chose Roswell, GA — where research excellence at Georgia Tech, a ready supply of high-tech talent, and a business environment built for speed are converging to create a new aerospace manufacturing cluster.
“PBS is the world’s leading producer of small turbojet engines,” said Erin Durham, Chief Executive Officer of PBS Aerospace. “We’re bringing those outstanding engines here to the United States to start up a U.S. factory — and we’ll be producing thousands of them by 2026.”
Unlike the multimillion-dollar cruise missiles of the past, the systems PBS supports are designed for scale and agility. Their compact engines — typically producing 100 to 200 pounds of thrust — power the small drones and missiles that have redefined defense strategy in conflicts from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. “Our engines go into munitions that cost a tenth of traditional systems,” Durham said. “That allows us to produce at a fraction of the cost, project power, and defend U.S. interests more effectively.”
Click here to learn more.
From the University of Louisville:
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), part of the U.S. Department of War (DoW), recently selected the University of Louisville (UofL) to operate a Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub for the state of Kentucky. This new designation will bring Kentucky talent and technology companies greater opportunities to support DoW needs.
DIU works with companies to rapidly prototype and scale technologies for national defense and currently operates OnRamp Hubs across the U.S. in Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, Ohio and Washington. The addition of OnRamp Hub: Kentucky presents an opportunity for talent and technology companies across the state.
“The University of Louisville is establishing itself as a national leader in defense technology and innovation,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, who supported UofL’s selection for the hub. “Today’s announcement will bring a Defense Innovation Unit OnRamp Hub to Kentucky with UofL as the commonwealth’s delivery partner. I am proud that UofL will create new opportunities for defense companies, researchers and students to contribute directly to our national security.”
Multiple areas of established infrastructure at UofL will contribute to the hub’s mission, including a nationally ranked research enterprise, particularly assets within the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, such as defense-focused facilities in additive manufacturing, robotics, cybersecurity and micro and nano technology. Support mechanisms for innovation commercialization and existing partnerships with regional defense and manufacturing entities also will contribute to the hub’s goals.
“We are immensely grateful for the opportunity to engage the talents and assets at the University of Louisville to strengthen our nation’s security, while elevating manufacturing businesses and innovators across Kentucky,” said UofL President Gerry Bradley.
From the University of Connecticut:
The University of Connecticut’s John Lof Leadership Academy (JLLA) and Matthew & Margarethe Mashikian Innovation & Entrepreneurship Hub (eHub) jointly hosted an immersive, hands-on entrepreneurship event designed to help undergraduate and graduate students transform their research into viable, user-centered innovations.
The event featured a keynote address from tech entrepreneur and former Yale Professor Andreas Savvides and an interactive workshop led by Leila Daneshmandi, an Assistant Professor of Engineering and the Director of the eHub, and Duran Gonzalez, a scientist at Encapsulate, a precision diagnostics company, the event guided participants through the mindset, skills, and strategies needed to navigate the path from idea to impact.
In his presentation, Savvides said, “The skills needed to enter the workforce are changing, you need to learn how to use AI (artificial intelligence) effectively in your start-up venture.”
He also focused on the following lessons:
- Focus on application, not just innovation;
- Balance innovation with packaging;
- Go deep into your domain;
- Don’t fear failure, use it to build muscle; and
- Choose strong advisors.
From the University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub, a Chancellor’s initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) started earlier in 2025, is working to help translate ideas into opportunities for entrepreneurial students, staff, and faculty by creating a founder-first ecosystem at UW-Madison that develops talent and helps launch entrepreneurial careers.
Now, the Badger Tech Foundry, launched by the College of Engineering, has become the first spoke in the hub, helping ensure ideas born in the lab become companies, careers, and catalysts for change. The Badger Tech Foundry is a founder development program recruiting graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to UW-Madison, training them to launch companies and become serial entrepreneurs.
“At UW-Madison, we’re driven to develop ideas that change the world,” says Foundry Director William Murphy, a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopedics and Rehabilitation. “This initiative is about making sure that happens by supporting talented young researchers and helping them start their own companies rooted in ‘deep tech’ expertise.”
Deep tech refers to innovations that are rooted in science and engineering. They are complex, often capital-intensive efforts that tend to involve intellectual property and require specific expertise, such as in semiconductors, or in specialized materials for medical implants.
From the University of Minnesota:
In the past five years, only four universities have spun off 20 or more start-ups annually. The University of Minnesota (The U) ranks among the top four during that time frame.
The U’s Technology Commercialization Office (TechCom for short) focuses on the business prospects of ideas generated by researchers there.
TechCom has been involved with 285 start-ups since 2006, and nearly half of that growth has been since 2020. Its initiatives range from protecting intellectual property to licensing the right to use an invention to backing startup companies.
“We’re actually generating money and recurring revenue that we can then put into new start-ups and new research,” said Rick Huebsch, Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation at TechCom. “And we have an ecosystem within the university that we can really help those start-ups.”
TechCom’s work helps to generate some revenue for the school, but it also helps to burnish the U’s reputation as relevant to the state’s economy and business ecosystem at a time when the Trump Administration has been trying to gut federal funding for research at American universities.
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