TEDCO Awards Funds to Balachandran

The Washington Business Journal has reported that the Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) has awarded $48,374 to Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Balakumar Balachandran through its University Technology Development Fund program. This program provides grants to Maryland universities for research and development projects with commercial potential.

The University Technology Development Fund program was designed to assist Maryland universities in transferring technologies into commercial projects. Through the program, researchers and scientists in the universities have the opportunity to apply for additional funds to make a technology suitable for the marketplace.The more than $218,000 in awards went to four bioscience researchers in addition to Dr. Balachandran. The fund, with awards of up to $100,000, can be used to test the feasibility of new inventions, develop prototypes, conduct proof of principle research and expand the scope of patent coverage.

Maryland's public colleges and universities are home to some of the nation's finest researchers in a wide array of science and technology," says William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. "These faculty and their campuses provide an ideal setting for technology transfer and for developing tomorrow's leaders in innovation and creativity. "It's through our state's great research universities that we can build the foundation for Maryland to be a leader in the knowledge economy of the 21st Century," said Kirwan.

Published February 15, 2003