SUNY Announces Winners of the Startup Summer School Class of 2022 Demo Day
Courtesy of the State University of New York
Photos from the event are available here.
State University of New York announced the $25,000 winners of the SUNY Startup Summer School (S4) Class of 2022 Demo Day, a program and competition designed to showcase the most promising technologies and startups being developed by participants representing 174 SUNY students, faculty, and staff in emerging technologies fields.
The two winners are:
- LiBAMA from Binghamton University, which is commercializing the next generation of lithium batteries enabled by advanced metal anodes for enhanced battery performance. LiBAMA is led by:
- Wentao Li, post doctorate fellow at Binghamton University, who is receiving technical mentorship from Nobel Prize winner and Distinguished Binghamton Professor Stan Whittingham, with technology commercialization and entrepreneurship support from the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Partnerships
- SupreMEtric from University at Albany, which is developing an advanced method for detection, identification, and analysis of body fluids for better forensics. Team members include:
- Igor K. Lednev, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University at Albany
- Alexis Weber, Ph.D. student within the Chemistry Department at the University at Albany
In addition to the capital from the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund Catalyst Investment, LiBAMA and SupreMEtric will also receive follow-on support from SUNY to identify and write strong proposals for grant funding, which will allow the teams to continue commercializing their technology.
"Programs like the SUNY Startup Summer School help to give our students the chance to be entrepreneurs and our faculty further opportunities to act as mentors and fund their own breakthrough research," said SUNY Interim Chancellor Deborah F. Stanley. "In the crucible of competition, great strides can be made, and we look forward to seeing what these bright and inspiring minds create or solve next. My congratulations to this year's winners—LiBAMA and SupreMEtric—and to all the participants who made this year's competition an enriching learning experience for all."
SUNY Board Trustee Courtney Burke said, "It is through dynamic programs like the SUNY Startup Summer School that our students, faculty, and staff have a chance to collaborate and make breakthroughs at the cutting edge of science. The dedication shown by all of the participants is yet another example of the premier research facilities we have throughout the SUNY System. Congratulations to our winners from Binghamton University and University at Albany, we are excited and inspired by your work."
University at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez said, "We at UAlbany are committed to bringing our transformational scientific discoveries to market. That is why we could not be more proud of our winning team—and the entrepreneurial spirit and research excellence that Alexis and Professor Lednev's work represents. It was also an honor to host the S4 Demo Day at our new ETEC facility, which embodies UAlbany's commitment to collaborations between academia and the start-up enterprise."
Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger said, "Binghamton University is committed to driving economic development and benefitting society through innovation, technology commercialization, and high-tech entrepreneurship. With our expanding focus on clean energy and energy storage innovations, we are very excited for our empowerST Fellow Wentao Li, and look forward to continuing our support of his company LiBAMA as it works towards transforming lithium metal battery technologies."
This year's panel of judges included:
- Marcia Mitchell, Director, New York Ventures, Empire State Development
- Khadesha Okwudili, Founder and CEO, AGAPÉ
- Patty Rechberger, Innovation Fund Manager, FuzeHub
- Noa Simons, President and CEO, Upstate Capital Association of New York
All S4 participating teams will continue to receive coaching and mentoring from SUNY Venture Advisors, successful entrepreneurs and seasoned executives, to support additional business development and commercialization in the coming months.
S4 is an annual business accelerator program, which aims to identify, educate, and build strong entrepreneurial teams to bring SUNY technologies to market. The program offers virtual accelerated entrepreneurial education and training for participants to help them secure the initial funding needed to get their technology to market. S4 participation has grown from 118 students, faculty, and staff participants in 2020, to 174 participants this year, representing nearly 50 percent growth.
Across SUNY, campuses are conducting leading research, and inspiring the next generation of scientists and innovators. The SUNY System enables countless collaborative possibilities in science and engineering, with a network of world-renowned researchers and pioneering R&D facilities, tools, and capabilities. SUNY's leading research campuses include University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and Stony Brook University. SUNY supports a research ecosystem that cultivates innovation and entrepreneurship across multiple key areas including Artificial Intelligence, Clean Energy, Biotechnology, Longevity, Substance Addiction, Nextgen Quantum Computing, Environmental Health, and Resiliency. Driving social impact, enhancing human wellbeing and stimulating economic growth, the SUNY Research Foundation provides SUNY's 30 state-operated campuses with an infrastructure of people, technology, and processes that enables faculty to write and submit grant proposals to agencies, foundations, and companies; establish contracts and manage funding awarded to run campus-based research projects; protect and commercialize intellectual property created within those projects; and establish partnerships.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY's 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.3 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2021, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit suny.edu.
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