A new grant will help the University of Hawaii develop energy and marine technologies.
The university announced Wednesday that it has received a $2.4-million grant from the Office of Naval Research that will support hands-on projects and entrepreneurial training in these fields.
According to university officials in a statement, “the overall aim is to strengthen the state’s economy and workforce.”
“We’re grateful to the Office of Naval Research for this unique opportunity to collectively develop and commercialize scalable technologies at UH, while expanding Hawaii’s blue economy innovation and entrepreneurship pathways and building workforce capacity,” Vassilis L. Syrmos, UH vice president of research and innovation, said in the statement. “Through these targeted initiatives, we will be able to collaboratively identify, develop and translate our world-class research into impact-driven ventures to help diversify and stimulate our state’s economy.”
With the new funding, UH said it will launch three new programs this year:
• Hacking4X (H4X) - a semester-long program that will focus on the product design process, with an emphasis on customer discovery. At the end of the program, project teams will showcase their work during a pitch competition.
• Patents2Products - a year-long funded fellowship for PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers that will help participants turn innovative ideas into marketable solutions. OIC is currently seeking program partners, including UH-affiliated technology companies or faculty research labs.
• Faculty Fellows - a semester-long program that focuses on enhancing faculty involvement in innovation and entrepreneurship. The program will provide faculty training in Lean Startup methodologies that can be incorporated into their courses.
The programs will be run by the UH Office of Innovation and Commercialization.
“We developed these highly immersive and experiential training programs to facilitate the transformation of ideas to impact,” stated OIC Technology Licensing Officer and Innovation Programs Associate Director Rebecca Chung, one of the grant’s principal investigators. “These programs will prepare researchers to extend their focus beyond the academic laboratory environment. We want to increase the capacity for innovation and accelerate the economic and societal benefits of technological developments.”
