Twelve research projects have been selected for the 2026 Penn State Commercialization GAP Fund. Awarded projects receive $75,000 in funding and other support to develop promising proof-of-concept research into commercial ready technology.
As the name suggests, GAP funding is targeted towards research projects that - despite exciting potential - are sometimes stuck in the funding gap between government grants and commercial investment. Attracting commercial attention often requires extensive development and testing to show that a product is safe, effective at scale and properly positioned within the marketplace. GAP funding helps researchers carry their project through this critical stage, with the goal of attracting a commercial licensee or investor within one to three years.
Funded by the Penn State Research Foundation and administered by the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), the GAP Fund has supported 25 research projects since its inception in 2024.
"Our office works to bridge the gap between promising research and industry adoption," said Bin Yan, Director of OTT and Associate Vice President for Research. "The GAP Fund supports projects at a critical stage of development by incorporating industry perspectives early in the process. This approach helps ensure that Penn State innovations are not only scientifically compelling, but also responsive to market needs and positioned for successful commercialization and societal impact."
The OTT collaborates with internal and external stakeholders and industry experts to review GAP proposals, evaluate oral presentations, and select the final winners through a competitive vetting process. The 2026 GAP Fund awardees are:
- Amir Sheikhi, Department of Chemical Engineering
- "Hairy Cellulose Nanocrystals (HCNCs) for Selective Separation and Recovery of Rare-Earth and Precious Metals" - Hairy Cellulose Nanocrystals (HCNCs) capture and separate valuable rare-earth elements and precious metals from industrial waste products. Unlike traditional methods, HCNCs operate without toxic organic solvents, high acid loads and energy-intensive multi-stage separations.
- Dipanjan Pan, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ken and Mary Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering
- "Democratizing Women's Health with Next Generation At-Home Biodiagnostics using Menstrual Effluent" - Many women experience barriers to critical health diagnostics because of tests that require a trip to a distant hospital and may be invasive, expensive or otherwise inaccessible. This project aims to the leverage the biomarkers present in menstrual effluent to develop simple at-home tests that can detect several serious conditions like endometriosis, fertility disorders, endometrial cancer and others.
- Feifei Shi, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
- "Electrochemical leaching of lithium from natural ores" - The growth in the electric car market has led to a surge in demand for lithium, a key element in batteries. Despite being widely present across the U.S., lithium is typically imported from countries where the element occurs in forms that are simpler and less expensive to process. This project utilizes an electrochemical system to isolate lithium from ores and clay, which is common in the U.S., quickly and efficiently, easing a supply chain bottleneck and the reliance on imported materials.
- Jared Butler, School of Engineering Design and Innovation
- "Axi-FLEX: Single-Piece Compliant Bone Plate for Long-Bone Fractures" - Metal implants used to stabilize broken bones have proven to be an important medical advancement, but they have some important limitations. Typical orthopedic bone plates can be overly rigid, and this can complicate proper healing. The "Axi-FLEX" implant corrects these limitations with an advanced design that allows for controlled axial micromotion, while still being simple for surgeons to apply. (This project has been co-funded by the Penn State Center for Medical Innovation.)
- Juan Pablo Gevaudan Burgos, Department of Architectural Engineering
- "Mechano-carbonation: Accelerated Mineral Carbonation and Manufacturing of Concrete Products" - While concrete is ubiquitous in the construction industry, sourcing cement - a critical component of concrete - can pose several problems including high transport costs and inconsistent availability. This cement alternative relies only on abundant basalt and on-site carbon dioxide and dust emissions, to produce concrete that meets ASTM International standards with less energy and at a lower cost.
- Melik C. Demirel, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics
- "High Throughput Screening of Expression Constructs Using Microcapillary Arrays" - Traditional methods for developing new proteins - critical in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and industrial catalysis - are notoriously slow. This project utilizes ultra-High-Throughput Screening (uHTS) to identify variants with desired functions, crucial for the rapidly expanding $24 billion global HTS market.
- Nairiti Sinha, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
- "Biodegradable UV-curable pressure sensitive adhesives based on polypeptides" - The global market for pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) is predicted to grow to over $15 billion by 2033. While most PSAs rely on petroleum-derived products, Sinha's group is developing a greener alternative with a polypeptide-based, sustainable PSA targeting applications in the food, healthcare and cosmetics industries.
- Saptarshi Das, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics
- "Machine-learning aided graphene chemosensors for food safety" - Food safety, mining, wastewater management, and other industries have made chemical sensing a $25 billion market. Existing technologies like spectroscopy are often expensive, slow and technologically complex. This project aims to develop a graphene-based nanosensor that utilizes machine learning to deliver low-cost, simple and fast detection.
- Sean David Knecht, School of Engineering Design and Innovation
- "Plasma Patch: a novel, disruptive solution for burn infection control" - For burn victims, changing bandages - often three times in the first week of treatment - can leave wounds temporarily vulnerable to serious infection. The "Plasma Patch" is a portable, reusable medical device that uses cold atmospheric plasma to sterilize wounds, eradicate pathogens and accelerate healing during dressing changes.
- Sinisa Dovat, Department of Pediatrics
- "Polyinflammatory kinase inhibitors for the topical treatment of atopic dermatitis and other inflammatory skin diseases" - Close to 50 million people in the U.S. suffer from inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema. The majority rely on topical monotherapies for relief, but the efficacy of these products is often disappointing. This project developed three proprietary compounds which strongly inhibit inflammation, with efficacy superior to current non-steroid, topical treatments for psoriasis and irritant contact dermatitis. (This project has been co-funded by the Penn State Center for Medical Innovation.)
- Xingjie Ni, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- "Ultra-Compact Snapshot Hyperspectral/Polarimetric Camera with an Integrable Meta-Encoder" - Hyperspectral and polarimetric cameras can capture far more information than conventional cameras, revealing chemistry, tissue health, material type, surface stress and scene semantics - but current systems are typically bulky, slow and expensive. This project modifies an inexpensive Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor camera into a multidimensional "super camera" that is faster, simpler and less expensive than typical alternatives.
- Yuguo Lei, Department of Biomedical Engineering
- "Microbioreactors for Large-Scale and Low-Cost Therapeutic Cell and Virus Production" - Cell and gene therapies offer transformative treatments but face a critical bottleneck: consistent, scalable and cost-effective manufacturing. This new system dramatically lowers costs and simplifies manufacturing through scalable, dissolvable 3D microbioreactors made from alginate and collagen hydrogel tubes.
Commercialization resources at Penn State
The Office of Technology Transfer connects researchers and inventors with entrepreneurs and industry to scale groundbreaking technologies benefiting people and communities around the globe. To learn more about the GAP Fund and other commercialization resources, visit the OTT website.
