The Wellborn Gap Fund, recently named after UNM Rainforest Innovations’ first president Charles Wellborn, provides funding to support the advancement and commercialization of innovative technologies developed at the University of New Mexico (UNM). The Wellborn Gap Fund bridges the funding gap many university technologies face as they transition from research to commercialization. It addresses the critical phase when inventions are not yet market-ready and obtaining federal funding can be difficult, helping inventors advance their work to proof-of-concept, improve patent applications, or attract investor interest. This year marks the fifteenth call for proposals aimed at supporting early-stage, unlicensed UNM technology that have been disclosed to UNM Rainforest Innovations.
Each submission is evaluated based on merit and uniqueness of the technology as well as its potential for commercialization. Selected proposals may receive funding up to $25,000 to help bridge the gap from concept to market readiness.
This year, eight proposals were chosen for funding:
PI Name | Proposal Title | School/Department | Funds Awarded |
Alexander Albrecht, PhD, Research Associate Professor | Intra-Cavity-Pumped Semiconductor Disk Laser | College of Arts & Sciences: Department of Physics & Astronomy | $25,000 |
Ganesh Balakrishnan, PhD, Professor & Associate Chair | Scalable Quantum Light Sources via Photonic Nanojet-Pumped Quantum Dots | School of Engineering: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering | $25,000 |
Kiran Bhaskar, PhD, Professor | High-Throughput Identification and Validation of Small Molecule Inhibitors for Alzheimer’s Disease | School of Medicine: Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | $25,000 |
Francesca Cavallo, PhD, Associate Professor & Emma Renteria, Post Doctoral Fellow | Ultra-Thin Infrared Detectors with Integrated Shields of Electromagnetic Interference | School of Engineering: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering | $25,000 |
Jose Cerrato Corrales, PhD, Professor & Regents’ Lecturer & Fernando Garzon, PhD, Distinguished Professor | Automatic Quantification of Toxic Metals in Drinking Water with an Electrochemical Flow Analyzer | School of Engineering: Department of Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering | $25,000 |
Minghui Chen, PhD, Assistant Professor | A Heat-Pipe-Cooled Molten Salt Fast Nuclear Microreactor | School of Engineering: Department of Nuclear Engineering | $25,000 |
Steven Graves, PhD, Associate Dean for Research & Innovation, Professor & Matthew Campen, PhD, Distinguished Professor | Large Volume Micro/Nano Particle Flow-based Separations via Precisely Positioned Micro Surfaces in Highly Parallel Acoustic Standing Wave Devices | School of Engineering: Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering | $25,000 |
Sungjin Kim, PhD, Assistant Professor | High-Value Polymer Upcycling via Dynamic Network Hybridization of Waste Thermosets and Thermoplastics for Transformative Manufacturing | School of Engineering: Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering | $25,000 |
Congratulations to this year’s awardees! We look forward to seeing how your work continues to develop and advance towards commercialization.
For more information on the Wellborn Gap Fund, also visit: https://innovations.unm.edu/wellborn-gap-fund/