Sponsored research expenditures at UD grew in 2024 to $269.2 million, a 13.7% increase over FY23. UD’s reputation as a research powerhouse also expanded, rising to the top 8% nationally for R&D activities in the latest Higher Education Research and Development Survey, released by the National Science Foundation. This is an increase from #74 to #47 among 626 academic institutions when comparing non-medical school expenditures. 

UD President Dennis Assanis thanked attendees for their part in making the University a leader in research and congratulated them for creating innovations that change people’s lives for the better.

“Our status as an R1 institution is the result and reward of your expertise, curiosity, hard work and perseverance,” Assanis said. “Your work keeps UD at the forefront of exploration and discovery.”

As a nationally classified R1 research powerhouse as well as a land grant, sea grant, space grant and community engagement university, UD is a force for creative problem-solving and economic vitality serving Delaware, the region and beyond.  

Researchers at UD are working to address complex problems across a wide variety of areas, from sustainable solutions for textile recycling to more environmentally friendly insecticide ingredients. They are leading frontier research in plastics recycling, developing new materials for spacesuits and expanding forward-moving clean hydrogen technologies. They are bringing value and understanding to our lives by connecting us to our history, our cultures and the arts.

UD innovators are gaining attention for their efforts beyond our campus borders, too. Aditya Kunjapur, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was honored earlier this year by the American Association for the Advancement of Science with the 2024 BioInnovation Institute and Science Prize for Innovation for his team’s innovative methods for making proteins previously unseen to the immune system more visible and more likely to lead to “immune memory,” work potentially useful to new vaccine development, especially for bacterial infections.

Delaware U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and Elizabeth Dougherty, regional director in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Northeast Regional Outreach Office, joined UD leadership at the Roselle Center to recognize UD’s inventor community. 

“It is wonderful to have a university whose leadership continues to elevate and to provide the fuel for your catalytic undertakings,” Coons said. “This is one of my favorite events of the year ... Thank you, for what all of you are making possible, for believing, for hoping and for working towards a better future as the result of the application of science to the challenges of the world today.”

For more than 30 years, Dougherty has focused on outreach and education programs focusing on small business startups and entrepreneurs in her career with USPTO. In a keynote address, Dougherty touched on the role intellectual property (IP) plays as a driving force in our nation’s economy. 

She referred to the U.S. Patent Office as America’s “innovation agency” and universities as “the factories of knowledge, the knowledge of our economy.” UD’s inventions, patents, licenses and startups document the University’s success in a quantifiable way.

“The more IP you develop, the more successful you can be, the more you can contribute to the entire economy. This, in turn, gives you more capital to further invest in your institution for expanding your creative ideas,” Dougherty said.

UD’s Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP), led by Julius Korley, is the unit responsible for managing intellectual property at UD. OEIP staff, which includes the unit’s Technology Transfer Office, work tirelessly to propel UD innovation forward across campus and to help strengthen the University’s culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. During the past decade, UD researchers have been issued 104 patents. 

In the U.S., Dougherty said, less than 25% of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce is composed of women. Additionally, the participation of women on U.S. patents is even lower, comprising only 12.8% of all inventors on patents. By contrast, 44% of UD patents have involved a woman inventor. This is good news, placing UD well above this national average.

Additionally, last year UD was selected to receive funding from NSF’s inaugural Accelerating Research Translation program, which is enabling the University to invest in more infrastructure for translating research into practice.

A growing innovation ecosystem

Fostering invention and entrepreneurship is key to developing a strong innovation ecosystem. At UD, this effort begins with recognizing UD inventors and encouraging others in the research community who may decide to pursue this pathway.

Here are a few examples of UD technologies that have had success in the marketplace during the past year and that are making a positive impact on the world.

• UD-developed biomaterials: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two new wound management products that include patented hydrogels invented by UD material scientist Darrin Pochan and Joel Schneider, a former UD faculty member now at the National Cancer Institute. Licensed for use by Gel4Med, a Harvard University-based biomaterials engineering company, the unique UD hydrogel materials are made of peptides — the building blocks of proteins — that self-assemble to form a 3D matrix and are compatible with living cells, providing fresh hope for the treatment of chronic wounds.

• Platform tech for sample preparation: Yanbao Yu, director of proteomics in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has developed a simplified method for preparing protein samples for proteomics analysis that is quick, easy-to-use and inexpensive, compared to other products on the market. The platform technology can be used across multiple sample-collection devices, such as filters, pipettes, cartridges or plates. CDS Analytical, LLC, a leading supplier of proteomics sample preparation consumables and instruments, has an exclusive license for full commercial rights to the patent-pending UD technology.

• Circular textile supply chain: Social innovator Kelly Cobb, associate professor of fashion and apparel studies, is developing ways to reimagine used clothing for new purposes, cross-purposing secondhand textiles as starting materials for use in geotextiles, agriculture or architecture. In this way, Cobb envisions helping the planet while inspiring others to recognize the inherent value in recycled materials and minimizing the need for virgin textiles.

• Vehicle-to-grid technology (V2G): Invented at UD, this technology makes it possible for electric vehicles to draw and discharge energy back to the power grid. The software technology aggregates all vehicles plugged into the system so that they perform in unison, helping to balance the grid’s supply of electricity with real-time demand. Over the last year, UD V2G research and technology took several steps forward, including the adoption of new electric vehicle standards for the EV industry and demonstrating the ability to scale V2G to mass production and large scale through a pilot project with Delmarva Power.

As the formal portion of the event ended, Dougherty encouraged UD’s inventor community to serve as mentors and role models for future generations of students. Her call to action: the need for a higher percentage of the population to participate in the innovation ecosphere. 

Dougherty pointed to a recent Harvard study that showed increasing participation in invention among women, minorities and children from low-income families has the potential to “up to quadruple the rate of U.S. innovation.”

“It’s incredibly important to ensure that all Americans who are willing to work hard, persevere and take risks have the opportunity to innovate,” Dougherty said. “Intellectual property isn’t just vital for the growth of our economy. It also provides for the growth of an inventive mindset in our children … It holds the key to our future prosperity.”