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Eleven teams of University of Colorado faculty, researchers and graduate student innovators competed for a combined $750,000 in startup funding grants in this year’s Lab Venture Challenge (LVC). Judges from ��ƷSM����ӰƬ’s entrepreneurial network heard Shark-Tank-style pitches across two nights, one for innovations in biosciences and another for physical sciences and engineering.

News-Medical.Net—��ƷSM����ӰƬ researchers have developed a new miniature laser that could enable smaller, cheaper and more powerful biomedical imaging systems. The innovation advances chip-based frequency comb technology, paving the way for improved optical tools that could transform diagnostics and medical research.

EurekaAlert!—A new open-source tool is reshaping how engineers design multi-material objects. Charles Wade, a PhD student in the ��ƷSM����ӰƬ Department of Computer Science, has created a design system software package that uses functions and code to map not just shapes but also where different materials belong in a 3D object.

��ƷSM����ӰƬ Today—��ƷSM����ӰƬ researchers led by Professors Christopher Bowman and Kristi Anseth have received up to $5.8 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to develop a new wound treatment that temporarily halts cellular activity to prevent tissue damage. Inspired by the biostasis of tardigrades, the light-activated hydrogel could one day protect and preserve tissue in burns, frostbite and battlefield injuries.

CUbit Quantum Initiative—Svenja Knappe (��ƷSM����ӰƬ Mechanical Engineering) is collaborating with scientists from the CU Anschutz Medical Campus to advance the use of quantum sensors into real-world health applications. These quantum sensors could aid in more effective diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of brain disorders.

Technology Networks—Daniel Acuña, a ��ƷSM����ӰƬ computer scientist and founder of ��ƷSM����ӰƬ startup ReviewerZero, led development of an AI tool that analyzed ~15,200 open-access journals and flagged roughly 1,400 as potentially problematic, with over 1,000 confirmed to exhibit questionable publishing practices.

Eleven teams of University of Colorado entrepreneurs, faculty researchers and graduate student innovators will compete for a combined $750,000 in startup funding grants in this year’s��Lab Venture Challenge (LVC) Showcases at the Dairy Arts Center. Judges from Venture Partners at ��ƷSM����ӰƬ’s entrepreneurial network will hear Shark Tank-style pitches across two nights, one for innovations in biosciences and another for physical sciences and engineering.

��ƷSM����ӰƬ College of Engineering and Applied Science—Imagine a future where electric vehicle charging stations or AI data center power supply systems can be built like LEGO bricks—small, stackable units that can expand as demand grows. Luca Corradini, associate professor in the ��ƷSM����ӰƬ Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, is embarking on such a project.

��ƷSM����ӰƬ Today—��ƷSM����ӰƬ researchers have discovered a new way to make human rabies vaccines that could greatly expand access to immunization across the globe. They have formed a startup company called VitriVax to bring the technology—decades in the making—to market.

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)—CIRES and NOAA scientists have developed the Hourly Wildfire Potential Index (HWP)—an hourly updated assessment of wildfire risk across every nine square kilometers of land. The tool enhances existing weather prediction models by providing more accurate, real-time forecasts of wildfire activity and associated smoke emissions.