NSF Innovation Grant to Fund Collaboration and Lab

Coordinated by the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and School of Engineering

Gary Burdick, dean of Research, Matías Soto, director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Gunnar Lovhoiden, chair of the School of Engineering, are the three primary investigators for this NSF grant. (Photo by Jeff Boyd)

The Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship has received a three-year, $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will increase innovation capacity by fostering collaboration. Andrews University applied for this grant as part of the EXPAND consortium, a group of five universities who partner on projects relating to engineering and computer science. This is part of the NSF’s $18.6 million investment in “regional innovation ecosystems.”

“This grant will allow us to increase our efforts to develop meaningful industry relations, which may translate into collaborative projects, sponsored research and internships, inspiring new research and innovation opportunities,” says Matías Soto, PhD, director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Andrews University.

The five EXPAND members are Andrews University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, University of Detroit Mercy, Western New England University and University of St. Thomas, which are spread across the industrialized north of the United States from Minnesota to Massachusetts.

According to the NSF, members of the EXPAND consortium “will receive support to develop capacity and institutional knowledge to help them build new partnerships, secure future external funding and tap into their regional innovation ecosystems.” These project collaborations have the potential to provide experiential learning opportunities for the students involved, inspire basic and applied research areas within the faculty, allow companies to have a better talent pipeline, and benefit the university financially.

The NSF’s grant description explains that the “project aims to build strong and sustainable external partnerships in various disciplines of engineering and computer science, focusing on emerging technologies.” With this funding, universities in the consortium will share best practices and lessons learned to improve policies and processes for external partnerships, build faculty and staff expertise through development and support, and develop industry and community partners.

The grant will further bolster the work of the Andrews University Industry Lab, which was created in 2023 by the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the School of Engineering. The Industry Lab focuses on attracting and managing collaborative projects with industry partners. Its mission is to deliver tailored solutions that add value to industry partners by leveraging University resources. The lab’s vision is to be a trusted partner in solution design for its clients, which strengthens their position, supports economic development and promotes industry opportunities.

Through its partnership with the School of Engineering, the lab provides students with opportunities to develop and work on collaborative projects with external organizations such as companies, non-profit organizations and other universities. Since August 2023, students in the School of Engineering have utilized the Industry Lab in fulfillment of their senior design courses. In addition to several ongoing projects that they can participate in, they have the opportunity to propose their own projects and ideas for new products. All projects are at least two semesters long so that students gain extensive experience in project management and development throughout the year.

A central collaborator on these projects is Loma Linda University. An agreement brokered by the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship was signed between Andrews University and Loma Linda University (LLU), allowing LLU to disclose intellectual property of inventions created by their clinicians and doctors. The agreement has enabled Andrews University students and faculty to be engaged in the development and testing of medical device prototypes.

One project currently in progress with LLU is the automation of manual ventilators, also known as manual resuscitation bags. Manual resuscitation bags are used in circumstances where patients require additional support to help them breathe, but the bags require healthcare providers to maintain continuous motion in order to operate. Mechanical ventilators can support patients without constant operation but are more difficult to source and can sometimes be excessive for the case at hand. The project sought to maintain the activity of a manual resuscitation bag without the necessity of assigning a person to operate it. Such a solution reduces the amount of personnel needed to provide care for a patient, allowing healthcare professionals to focus on more demanding tasks.

Adrian Butcher, a mechanical engineering student who was working on the ventilator project, shared the outcome of the team’s efforts: “Our liaison from Loma Linda sent us a couple of videos showing that it was working because he was super excited!”

Another project collaborator has been local business Skidmore Pump, a steam pump manufacturer based in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Industry Lab developed a relationship with the company in the summer of 2023 and partnered with the School of Engineering for project execution. Students helped redesign valves to create more efficient ways to remove air from steam, also working toward reducing the failure of pressure valves within steam line systems and combining several different valve types.

Skidmore noted, “Taking this development work outside of our walls freed up our engineering resources to work on higher priority projects. Additionally, I think having the students work alongside industry partners with a company provides them insight into how professional projects and engineers work and think.”

“It has been a lot of work to get all the projects ready, onboard all the students into their projects, and explain to them what the projects are about,” states Soto. “We scheduled kickoff meetings with all these different companies and organizations and the students, so they could ask questions and get to know the inventors and people behind the scenes.” He shared that Industry Lab organizers hope to continue to grow this program and work with larger companies in the future, as the lab provides a direct opportunity for students to gain industry experience and branch out into various fields of interest, start-ups and companies of their own.

“I’m very excited about this program because it provides experiences for students, and it allows us to develop closer partnerships with industry. So it has multiple benefits,” says Soto.