Two teams led by CFAES faculty decided to create startup companies based on research they have developed at The Ohio State University.
The Ohio State teams were among 23 selected from 12 universities and other institutions in the state to participate in the second round of the 2016 I-Corps@Ohio program.
The seven-week program aims to help selected faculty and student teams determine if their intellectual property – such as a new technology – could be the basis of a startup company.
Both CFAES teams were in the IME(information technology, materials and energy and environment) cohort:
- EnergyEne, led by Katrina Cornish, Endowed Chair and Ohio Research Scholar, Bioemergent Materials, in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, and the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Cornish’s team is producing a non-allergenic, high-performance natural rubber alternative.
- Bio-Pioneers, led by Thaddeus Ezeji, associate professor of animal sciences, and Victor Ujor, assistant professor in the Renewable Energy Program at the Agricultural Technical Institute. They are producing industrial compounds from renewable resources.
A third OSU team to go startup is from another college.
Live Focus, led by Yi Zhao, associate professor of biomedical engineering. This team is developing a technology that will allow the use of smartphones to acquire microscopic images with quality comparable to mid-class commercial microscopes.