This article was contributed by Justin Streuli, Director of UNCW Office of Innovation + Commercialization.
 
It’s been three years since we first reported on the state of the innovations and technologies developed through UNCW’s research. The story then was that the growth in research expenditures, doctoral programs, universities initiatives, and an overall culture shift were resulting in an wave of new inventions across a variety of fields. Today, the story reads the same, only amplified.
 
UNCW’s Investments are Paying Off with Results
University innovations usually stem from research activity and this activity is typically measured in research expenditures, which have grown significantly from $13M in FY22 to $25M in FY23, and $33M in FY24 – up 154% in 2 years! UNCW has further invested in catalyzing initiatives such as Research Hubs, awarding $100,000 a year for three years for interdisciplinary research collaborations. The competitive process selected two hubs to tackle Brain Health Resilience and Maritime Cybersecurity. The university also joined the National Academy of Inventors, further transforming the culture of innovation and recently honoring our fourth prestigious NAI Senior Member, Dr. Joseph Covi. Other organizations continue investing in UNCW including NCInnovation launching a Research Hub on campus and NC Biotech piloting the Pre-Venture Challenge at UNCW featuring three UNCW researchers. 

This has all translated into gains in the commercialization of UNCW technologies. Commercialization is how UNCW transforms lab proven protoypes to real-world products. Since FY23, UNCW has set all-time annual records for most license revenue, largest single license, largest number of inventions reported, most patents filed, and most patents issued during a fiscal year. 
 
Exciting Technologies from UNCW Researchers
Technologies coming from UNCW researchers over the past three years have tended to fall into three groups: Blue Economy, Software/Robotic, and Healthcare. Let’s take a deeper look at some of these impressive inventions across these fields.
Blue Economy is described by the World Bank as “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.” Dr. Miran Hossain and team’s UNCW Blue Economy Index has garnered attention over the past year, but there are others of significant note. Efforts in coral research by Drs. Nicole Fogarty and Jacob Warner generated a $1.5M grant to genetically engineer corals that are more tolerant of warmer waters. Dr. Blake Ushijima is also researching corals, specifically probiotic treatments preventing coral diseases, as well as leveraging the natural antibiotic-producing capabilities of coral microbiomes to generate pharmaceuticals for humans. While dining at local restaurants, you may have recently enjoyed Black Sea Bass grown at UNCW’s Aquaculture Facility on Wrightsville Beach under the leadership of Dr. Md Shah Alam. Their novel aquaculture systems, methods, and fish feed have generated growing interest across the state for sustainably farm raised marine fish. 

Like any cutting-edge tech company, UNCW researchers are leveraging breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Large Language Models (LLM) and Machine Learning (ML), leading to inventions in Software and Robotics. A cross disciplinary team from Nursing (Drs. Shannon Ford, Jacqueline Vaughn) and Computer Science (Dr. Gulustan Dogan) have incorporated AI and LLMs into healthcare simulation training for both trainees and facilitators. In Sociology, Drs. Shane Elliott and Doug Engelman have leveraged AI to create an LLM chatbot focused on improving student’s mental wellness by guiding them in self-reflection, while providing resources that can improve personal health and wellbeing. Dr. Nivine Richie and her team have worked on a software solution to improve student study plans, designing a tool that integrates with UNCW’s enrollment management system to review a student's major/minor and forecasts a custom class schedule into the distant future allowing for course planning, scheduling, instructional needs and more. Dr. Hamed Saeidi of UNCW’s Intelligent Systems Engineering has gone beyond just software with two distinct innovations. The first is a robotic arm system guided simply by the user’s eyes which could benefit those with disabilities all the way to advanced manufacturing. The other is an AI foosball table, allowing users to compete against an AI in physical foosball. The ultimate goal is to develop a kit for STEM education, allowing students to build and design their own competitive AI to compete against real users or other AI in foosball. 

Healthcare is another field of significant invention creation at UNCW. Recent traction has come around therapeutic compounds, specifically Dr. Ying Wang in Chemistry who received a $1.2M Grant focused on the development of a Universal Flu Vaccine. This is in addition to his previous research efforts around mRNA-LNP formulations, for which he formed the company DuraVax, and was awarded an NSF STTR Phase I Grant to create shelf-stable mRNA pharmaceuticals. Through a collaboration with Dr. Todd Peterson (Psychology), Dr. Wang has ventured down another research pathway with GLP1R medications and how to effectively deliver them beyond the blood brain barrier, which has shown promise. Dr. Wang is far from alone. As noted in our last article, an explosion in cannabinoid research has occurred since changes in State law decriminalized forms of cannabis and Drs. Thomas Williamson and Jeremy Morgan were active in this space. Dr. Morgan continues his efforts to synthesize unique cannabinoid derivatives while also developing a novel method to do so. Dr. Williamson and Drug Discovery Lab (DISCO) colleague Dr. Wendy Strangman received exciting results showing that compounds produced by a native herb to the US show anti-cancer activity, the initial data promising to an anti-cancer drug. Finally, Dr. Stephanie Turrise (Nursing) and team are ready to integrate their Heart Failure Self-Care Readiness Screening Tool into an electronic health record system in use at a large clinical provider, potentially the first step in improving outcomes for millions of patients.

More info on UNCW technologies
For more information on UNCW technologies, please reach out to Justin Streuli, Director of the Office of Innovation + Commercialization (OIC) or email [email protected]. 
 
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Heather McWhorter, MS, PE, ECM, is the director of the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. CIE is a resource for high-impact start-ups and the early-stage business community to help diversify the local economy with innovative solutions.