Nanoporous Antireflection Coatings earned the top prize of $75,000 in 2019 Invent Penn State Venture & IP Fair Tech Tournament, beating out 11 other early-stage startups and inventors whose ideas developed from Penn State research.
Chris Giebink, associate professor of electrical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, led the pitch. He and and J.P. Murphy, postdoctoral researcher and their team developed an antireflection (AR) coating for transparent plastics. Applications for the coating range from eyeglass lenses and cellphone cameras to solar panels and greenhouse glazings.
The Tech Tournament awarded a total of $160,000 in prize money, helping to provide capital for startups to take next steps toward commercialization. Three other companies received cash prizes:
2nd place, $50,000: Arbitrator Intelligence (AI) developed an independent global information aggregation platform that produces data analytics on international arbitration; led by founder and CEO Catherine A. Rogers, professor, Penn State Law.
3rd place, $25,000: Safe-T Scope created a solution to enhance access to quality sexual assault care in underserved communities; led by Sheridan Miyamoto, assistant professor, Penn State College of Nursing and founder of Safe-T Scope.
People’s Choice, $10,000: ChromaTiR developed a technology to create color-shifting effects in a broad range of materials that is more cost-effective and safer, led by Lauren Zarzar, assistant professor of chemistry in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State.
The 2019 Invent Penn State Venture & IP Fair featured 85 startup companies, 90 investors and advisors and 30 sponsors. The next Venture & IP Conference will be scheduled for Spring 2021.