Investing Early. Advancing Possibilities: Division of Research Announces Inaugural ORTIA Micro Grant Recipients
Six research teams selected for early-stage funding to advance promising inventions and explore their commercialization potential.
October 30, 2026 – UNC Charlotte’s Division of Research, through its Office of Research Translation and Industry Alliances (ORTIA), is proud to announce the six research teams selected for its inaugural 2026 Micro Grant Program. The awards recognize promising technologies in health and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, energy systems, and artificial intelligence.
Launched in August 2026, the program attracted applications from researchers across four colleges, demonstrating the demand for early-stage support to further develop and validate promising inventions.
The program provides awards of up to $5,000 to support activities such as prototyping, testing, and proof-of-concept validation. This targeted funding helps researchers address early technical barriers, generate initial validation data and evaluate opportunities for intellectual property protection, industry partnerships and commercialization.
“Some of the most promising innovations just need a little boost and additional support to move from an idea to a viable and licensable technology.”
– Brad Fach, Interim Executive Director of IP & Technology Transfer.
Supporting Innovation at a Critical Stage
Promising technologies emerging from university research often require additional testing, validation and refinement before their commercial potential can be fully evaluated.
The ORTIA Micro Grant Program addresses this early funding gap by providing targeted support to help researchers generate the evidence needed to advance their inventions and explore future licensing and industry partnership opportunities.
“Some of the most promising innovations just need just a little boost and additional support to move from an idea to a viable and licensable technology,” said Brad Fach, Interim Executive Director of Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer. “Through the ORTIA Micro Grant Program, we’re helping researchers take those critical next steps in developing and validating their inventions. The projects selected for this inaugural round highlight the innovative research taking place at UNC Charlotte,” noted Fach.
Meet the 2026 Inaugural Micro Grant Recipients
The six selected research projects represent a range of disciplines and potential applications:
Dr. Angelo Gaitas
Electrical and Computer Engineering, William States Lee College of Engineering
Wireless Temperature Monitoring
Developing wearable wireless temperature sensor technology for laboratory mice to support disease research while reducing reliance on surgically implanted monitoring devices.
Dr. Edward P. Morse and Jorian Khan, Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, William States Lee College of Engineering
Optical 3D Measurement
Developing an optical measurement system designed to improve manufacturing measurements by reducing the need to attach physical markers to components.
Dr. Ke Zeng
Electrical and Computer Engineering, William States Lee College of Engineering
Next-Generation Power Electronics
Validating semiconductor materials for more efficient and reliable high-voltage power conversion, with potential applications in energy systems and grid reliability.
Dr. Ke Wang and Md Tareq Mahmud, Ph.D. Candidate in Electrical Engineering
Electrical and Computer Engineering, William States Lee College of Engineering
Energy-Efficient AI Computing
Investigating improved communication among processor components to increase computing performance while reducing energy consumption.
Dr. Michael G. Walter, Dr. Richard Allen White III, and Aunannya Banik, Ph.D. Student in Chemistry and Nanoscale Science
Chemistry, Klein College of Science
Bioinformatics, College of Computing and Informatics
Influenza Antiviral Development
Conducting early-stage laboratory testing to identify promising new influenza antiviral candidates for further research and development.
Resilient Home Energy Management
Dr. Maciej A. Noras and Eshwara Prasath Ramesh, Ph.D. Candidate in Electrical Engineering
School of Energy, William States Lee College of Engineering
Developing residential energy management controls designed to help home energy systems respond reliably to power outages and changing energy conditions.
The inaugural projects also recognize the contributions of graduate researchers working alongside faculty to advance promising technologies. Their involvement provides valuable hands-on experience in invention development, testing and validation while supporting UNC Charlotte’s commitment to graduate research and professional development.
Advancing Technologies Beyond the Initial Investment
The inaugural Micro Grant awards represent an investment in UNC Charlotte researchers and the promising technologies they are developing. While each project is at a different stage, the funding provides an opportunity to advance initial research findings, address technical challenges and lay the groundwork for future development.
As the projects progress, ORTIA will spotlight the researchers behind these technologies, sharing their achievements, development milestones, and emerging opportunities for intellectual property protection, additional funding, licensing and industry collaboration.
Learn more about the program and future funding opportunities on the ORTIA Micro Grant Program webpage.