During Phase 1, researchers demonstrated the feasibility of a disruptive chip-scale gas sensor technology using conventional large-scale microfabrication processes. During Phase 2, they fabricated eight microsensors on a single chip, including a passive sensor for calibration. Researchers designed a library of metal oxide/metal for the said gases and developed a standard deposition method to functionalize those sensors. Lastly, researchers developed an automated measurement system to determine the sensitivity of the sensors in a faster way.

Four papers were submitted for publication as a result of this project.

In February, 2017, N5 received an NIST Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (N-STEP) award to further develop its Chip-scale Hybrid Gas Sensors for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) monitoring. In 2014, N5 received both a TEDCO MII award and a U.S. Environmental Agency’s Phase I SBIR award related to sensor R&D.

In October, 2017, N5 was added to the Commercial Pilot Readiness Program (CRPP) by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which allows N5 to advance the development and manufacturing of the technology developed under the DHS contract award number HSHQDC-15-C-00075, H-SB014.2-006, Field Detection and Analysis or Fire Gases and Particulates. The CRPP allows agencies to make one additional SBIR Phase II follow-on award to small businesses for the technology development, testing, evaluation and commercialization assistance for SBIR Phase II technologies.

RedShred now offers its product online. The product offers automated RFP discovery, analysis and pre-qualification, with capabilities to optimize the RFP bidding process, rank opportunities to capability profiles, and extract RFP requirements automatically.

These MIPS projects resulted in one academic paper: Zareen Syed, Lushan Han, Muhammad Rahman, Tim Finin, James Kukla and Jeehye Yun, Querying Large Linked Data Resources, 14th Int. Semantic Web Conference, Oct. 2015.

RedShred received a $100,000 Technology Commercialization Fund grant in 2014. In March, 2015, the company was awarded a $150,000 loan through the Anne Arundel County Volt Fund. In May, 2015, RedShred received a $100,000 small business loan from the Baltimore County Boost Fund. In January, 2016, RedShred received a National Science Foundation Phase I and Phase IB STTR.

Additional Mtech/UMD Programs Utilized:
DC I-Corps

Additional Information:
RedShred was formed from lessons learned at SSG, a commercial and government IT contractor owned by Jeehye Yun. Having experienced the pain of RFP matching and shredding during her time running SSG, Jeehye teamed up with Jim Kukla, an experienced software engineer and former computer science researcher, to build RedShred. During the fall, 2013 DC I-Corps workshop, the founding team validated the value proposition with the market.

The novel media mixture developed and tested in this research has been shown to effectively remove phosphorus from urban runoff under representative laboratory simulations and to possess structural characteristics required for application as a sub-base in PaverGuide permeable pavement applications. Field testing of the material is in-progress.

A joint provisional patent application was submitted related to the technology developed through this MIPS project.

In June, 2017, PaverGuide received $150,000 in investment from the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund.

The company was also selected as a cohort for the Climate Ventures 2.0 Accelerator, through which PaverGuide will receive $25,000 in funding from the sponsor of the Accelerator, the William Penn Foundation.

PaverGuide has been admitted to the Water Environment and Reuse Foundation’s Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology program, through which the organization is currently soliciting municipal WE&RF “subscribers” to sign on for a PaverGuide pilot project. WE&RF would provide up to $200,000 for the project and make research results available to its subscribers.

Additional Mtech/UMD programs utilized:
Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund

Over several years and several studies, the Connected Savings solution has outperformed similar, competing energy demand-response products by 15-20 percent. Additionally, homes have seen a 10 percent average HVAC energy saving for participating homes through thermostat efficiency adjustments, often over $100 in savings. Recently, Whisker Labs was ranked as the #2 residential demand response provider in the prestigious Navigant Research Leaderboard: Residential Demand Response report.

Currently, over 100,000 customers across the U.S. are using Whisker Labs’ home energy system, while approximately 20 utility partners are using Connected Savings in Texas, California, New England, and Maryland.

Siemann joined Whisker Labs after graduating, as have an additional four previous UMD engineering graduate students. In addition, the Whisker Labs Connected Savings team has grown from four employees prior to the MIPS grant, to nearly 30 here in Maryland.

Starting in January, 2017, Whisker Labs commenced a new MIPS project with mechanical engineering Professor Steven Gabriel, to study the potential economic benefits of DR for retail energy providers through the use of the Connected Savings solution and advanced setpoint scheduling. The research team also still works closely with Professor Kim on advancing its HVAC Fault Detection and Diagnostics technology.

In addition, Whisker Labs has developed a new product that sits on breaker panels in homes, installs in minutes, can tell what appliances are running based upon their electronic signatures, and provides detailed insights about a home’s energy usage. The company anticipates that with this new technology, combined with connected thermostats, connected homes, proprietary weather data, home energy score cards and thermodynamic analytics developed with the University of Maryland in the Connected Savings solution, it will become the leading provider of demand-response energy savings in the nation.

This MIPS project resulted in data concluding that the XChanger system saves buildings 19.3 percent in HVAC electricity and 25.2 percent in gas yearly with its extra pressure drop and 37.4 percent in HVAC electricity and 7.7 percent in gas without added pressure drop.

One paper, “Evaluation of an Extended-Duct Air Delivery System in Tall Spaces Conditioned by Rooftop Units” (IMECE2016-65523), was published at the 2016 ASME IMECE.

Overall, these mechanistic in vivo experiments investigated whether the systemic (intravenous) administration of human platelets, or Thrombosomes®, containing miR-23a, may be able to transfer (following their recruitment and activation at the injury site) the loaded miR as an active molecule into cortical neurons following brain trauma, reducing the decline in miR-23a levels, inhibiting dependent cell death pathways, and ultimately attenuating neurological deficits after TBI.

Phase 1 defined conditions for platelet loading (miR-23a) and activation. It also investigated whether preventing miR-23a declines using microvesicle-rich fraction after platelet activation attenuates the activation of BH3-only proteins and decreases neuronal cell death in vitro. Phase 2 investigated whether preventing miR-23a declines with the intravenous administration of human platelets, or Thrombosomes® containing miR-23a, attenuates trauma-induced miR-23a downregulation, activation of BH3- only proteins, and/or improves neurological outcomes after TBI in vivo.  Overall, the proposed studies have established the foundation for the future use of company-generated Thrombosomes® as carriers for molecular modulators in clinical studies focusing on therapeutic applications in traumatic brain injury and beyond.

PSS is in discussion with several large seed companies regarding licensing opportunities and has received angel investments.

In December, 2012, PSS was awarded a $2.2 million grant for biofuel research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). In January, 2012, PSS was awarded U.S. Patent No. 8,106,261, which relates to the production of GABA in cells. Additional IP coverage for the technology was obtained in U.S. Patent Nos. 8,581,040 and 8,581,041, which were awarded in November, 2013, and U.S. Patent No. 9,487,792, which was awarded in November, 2016.

In June, 2014, the company was awarded U.S. Patent No. 8,742,204, which relates to the binding of metabolites in cells. In March, 2016, the company was awarded U.S. Patent No. 9,267,148, which relates to the production of taurine in cells with a biosynthetic pathway that, when moved into plants, can deliver taurine in its seeds. In April, 2017, the company was awarded a $750,000 NSF SBIR grant as a direct result of MIPS to use PSS’ biotechnology approach to increase the essential nutrients in soybean seeds for use in aquafeed.

As of August, 2017, PSS had six employees.

Since its founding, Vheda Health’s staff has grown to more than 25 employees across the United States, with eight in Maryland.

Vheda Health’s mobile care management platform currently delivers the highest member compliance, and member satisfaction of any technology-enabled service in its class – 87%, 84%, and 95%, respectively.

Vheda Health has raised more than $1.8 million in venture funding and achieved profitability in less than four years.

Vheda Health sales have increased more than 10 times, into the millions.

For the first MIPS project, Manta reported obtaining detailed insights into the bacterial and microalga communities present in the company’s ponds. The composition of oil obtained from hydrothermal liquefaction of algal biomass was determined.

In 2014, Manta was awarded a $40,000 Phase I grant through the TEDCO Technology Validation Program (and a subsequent Phase II award in 2015). In 2015, the company received a $150,000 SBIR Phase I award through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Also in 2015, Manta was selected for a $150,000 investment from the Mtech-managed Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund, which is supported by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR). In 2016, the company was awarded $100,000 through the TEDCO Technology Commercialization Fund. Also in 2016, Manta acquired a $1 million SBIR Phase II award through the DOE. Manta currently has five full-time employees and two part-time employees.

For the first MIPS project, new knowledge was created in terms of generating unique nanostructures and extending the company’s product shelf life through unique ink formulations. This research was used to aid the initial P-SERS™ product line.

Additional Mtech/UMD programs utilized:
University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition, Pitch Dingman, Cupid’s Cup, Entrepreneur Office Hours

In January, 2016, VoiceVibes began beta testing its MyVoiceVibes product at local colleges and universities. Wor-Wic Community College conducted a series of pilots in sections of its basic communications course, provided detailed product feedback from instructors and students, and eventually became VoiceVibes’ first customer. The company began selling subscriptions in January, 2017, and is now used in over 20 colleges and universities across the country. As of September, 2017, VoiceVibes employed seven people.

Additional Mtech/UMD programs utilized:
UMD Law Clinic