Invention of the Year Awards

Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a novel force sensing insole and a convolutional neural network (CNN) that can accurately predict medial JCF during both walking and running. Sensors were placed along an insole, and the resulting data was used to train a highly accurate convolutional neural network. This method can enable a cost-effective way to analyze knee movement as well as predictions other biomechanical risk factors.

Inventors:

• Samantha Snyder, School of Public Health - Kinesiology
• Jae Kun Shim, School of Public Health - Kinesiology
• Ross Miller, School of Public Health - Kinesiology

Researchers at the University of Maryland have created the Binoculars method, which can detect when text has been created by large language models. The framework compares the perplexity of text to a measure of background perplexity produced by an LLM. Importantly, Binoculars is highly accurate without any training data and can spot LLM generated text without the need to modify the LLM. It is highly accurate, with an accuracy and false positive rates of 90% and 0.01%, respectively, when tested on ChatGPT output.

Inventors:

• Thomas Goldstein, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Computer Science
• Avi Schwarzschild, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Computer Science
• Abhimanyu Hans, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Computer Science

Researchers at the University of Maryland have created Winnow, an easy to use college search designed to help first-generation students, students of color, and students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds explore college options. Rather than focusing on admissibility or prestige, Winnow asks students about their interests and dream environment in an onboarding quiz to help explore college options. For students interested in searching independently, Winnow’s search allows them to look up colleges and apply filters specifically tailored to their needs to narrow down their options. Examples include filtering by student racial demographics and the availability of an on-campus daycare. Students can easily like and favorite schools, which are saved to their profile. Additionally, Winnow has a library of resources that was created in partnership with a team of undergraduate and graduate students about the college search process. 

Inventors:

• Oi Yan Poon, College of Education - Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education
• Julie J. Park, College of Education - Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education
• Nancy Wong, College of Education - Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education

Researchers at the University of Maryland have created an oral capsule that can deliver drugs directly to intestinal tissue. When ingested, it naturally transits the intestinal tract. After reaching a previously identified site of interest, an externally applied magnetic field is used to deploy a cantilever actuator. Drugs are delivered via dissolving microneedles atop the cantilever, and multiple actuators can integrated per device. In all, these features enable localized drug delivery with higher delivery precision in both longitudinal and polar directions, potentiating site targeting for drug delivery in the GI tract. 

Inventors:

• Joshua Levy, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
• Michael Straker, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Fischell Department of Bioengineering
• Reza Ghodssi, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Electrical & Computer Engineering, Institute for Systems Research
• Luke A. Beardslee, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Institute for Systems Research

Lamin A is a key component of the nuclear lamina. Progerin, a truncated protein resulting from specific lamin A mutations, causes Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a disease that prematurely ages individuals. Researchers at the University of Maryland investigated the effects of exogenous progerin expression on neural progenitor cells carrying familial AD mutations (FAD). Within three to four weeks of differentiation, these cells exhibited robust AD phenotypes. Additionally, progerin expression significantly increased AD cellular phenotypes such as cell death and cell cycle re-entry. These results suggest that progerin expression could be used to create an accelerated model for AD development and drug screening.

Inventors:

• Kan Cao, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics
• Huijing Xue, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics

Researchers at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore have identified a precision prognostic biomarker and therapeutic tool for CRPC and aggressive PCa, specifically in African American (AA) men.  A novel therapeutic strategy has been developed, by combining miR-99b-5p mimic (a tumor suppressor) and new-generation androgen receptor (AR) antagonist (such as Enzalutamide, Abiraterone, etc.), for the treatment of AA PCa, CRPC, and ideally, all advanced PCa. 

Inventors:

• Bi-Dar (Peter) Wang, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
• Mohammad Waseem, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

This tip-enhanced carbon electrode design enables the formation of uniform, stable, large-area, and voluminous plasma at atmospheric pressure with a record-low breakdown voltage (less than 50V), while simultaneously achieving tunable and pulsable ultra-high temperatures of up to 8,000K. The new approach lends itself to safe, flexible, scalable, inexpensive, and easy to operate reactor design with the ability to cycle the reactor temperature between 1,000K and 8,000K in less than one second. This revolutionary plasma technology has recently been published in Nature with an accompanying video, and can drive advanced, environmentally friendly manufacturing with renewable electricity and minimal waste. It opens the door for new chemistries, including a wide range of extreme and emerging materials and production processes that can replace legacy production processes, while improving product quality and reducing cost and carbon footprint. Examples include the conversion of CO2 to methane, N2 to fertilizer, biomass to useful carbon, and the production of ultra-high-temperature ceramics such as Hf(C,N) hafnium carbonitride, which melts at >4,000K, and higher quality cement at high throughput with reduced CO2.

Inventors:

• Liangbing Hu, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
• Hua Xie, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
• Qian Zhang, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
• Ji-Cheng (JC) Zhao, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
• Yiguang Ju, Princeton University

Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a new method using specialized tools to modify a type of plastic called Poly(4-methyl-1-pentene) (PMP). This method helps alter the structure of PMP, allowing for the creation of new forms of the material with adjustable properties like how they transition from solid to liquid states. Some mixtures of metal compounds produce a blend of PMP with varying structures, making it more flexible and changing the temperatures at which it melts. Another mixture produces a specific type of PMP that doesn't form crystals, making it easier to work with.  The researchers have also developed a process that can control the level of errors in the structure of the PMP, which enables PMP with different melting temperatures ranging from 135°C (275°F) to 226°C (428°F), while still maintaining specific characteristics like its glass transition temperature. These new types of PMP can be used to make products that can be recycled alongside regular plastics like polyethylene and polypropylene. They can also be used to improve existing products, like making them less likely to break or crack. In short, this invention makes it possible to recycle PMP alongside other common plastics and opens up new possibilities for creating stronger and more versatile products.

Inventors:

• Lawrence R. Sita, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Danyon M. Fischbach, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Charlotte W. Wentz, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Chemistry & Biochemistry

Researchers at UMD developed an innovative process for the manufacturing of gradient thermal insulation materials with comparable the thermal insulation and mechanical strength to conventional building materials.  This process of treating the wheat straw to be processed alongside silica aerogels leads to a cellulose-aerogel gradient thermal insulation material that not only has similar properties to conventional building materials, but the final material can be produced in the form of a slurry with the approriate shear thinning properties and high storage modulus that allows for additive manufacturing. 3D printed model houses on a lab scale have proven to have sufficient mechanical strength and maintained an internal temperature of 26oC (79oF ) when placed in high-temperature environment of 110oC (230oF)  for several hours.

Inventors:

• Shenqiang Ren, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
• Arpita Sarkar, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
• Long Zhu, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering

Researchers at the University of Maryland and NIST have created a protocol for quantum non-demolition (QND) counting of optical photons that comprises (1) photon storage in a ordered array of cold atoms, (2) a series of coherent excitations to a Rydberg state and detection of the presence/absence of a Rydberg excitation, and (3) retrieval of the stored photon. Unlike many existing QND counting methods, this invention has no fundamental limitation in discerning large or small photon numbers and can also count itinerant photons.

Inventors:

• Alexey Gorshkov, National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Michael J. Gullans, National Institute of Standards and Technology
• James (Trey) Porto, National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Christopher Fechisin, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Joint Quantum Institute
• Kunal Sharma, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Joint Quantum Institute
• Przemyslaw Bienias, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Joint Quantum Institute
• Steven Lloyd Rolston, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - Physics

The invention is directed to a system based on a Van der Waals heterostructure which owns a large nonlinear optical absorption response of Fermi polarons, and is highly tunable by doping and applying an electric field. In most systems, including the ultrathin layered semiconductors, the optical nonlinearity is achieved mainly through the exciton polariton interaction, but such systems lack electrical controllability. Other systems only have nonlinearity behavior at the luminescence regime, which restricts the application in optoelectronics.  This invention is able to electrically switch on/off the optical absorptive nonlinearity in the energy regime of 10 meV.  It can be used in applications like novel nonlinear optoelectronic devices, e.g., all-optical switches and nonlinear optomechanical resonators.

Inventors:

• You Zhou, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
• Liuxin Gu, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering

Researchers at the University of Maryland and Northrup Grumman have created an analog-to-digital converter exclusively in the optical domain. This is achieved by exploiting the modulation of thermo-optical materials in carefully designed on-chip photic integrated resonators and circuitry.  While there are several digital-to-analog converters, the converse has been elusive. This invention is the missing link in allowing analog photic computing to perform with high efficiency, since its speed and power savings far exceed power hungry traditional analog-to-digital converters (ADC). 

Inventors:

• Carlos Rios Ocampo, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering, Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics
• Niloy Acharjee, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Electrical & Computer Engineering, Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics
• Siddhartha Ghosh, Northrop Grumman