June 11th, 2015

Lehigh University engineers, materials scientists and chemists will present their innovative breakthroughs to a national showcase of investors and industrial partners at the TechConnect 2015 World Innovation Conference and National Innovation Showcase in Washington on June 14-17.

Working at the junction of engineering and health, the Lehigh innovations include a nanoscale device that captures tumor cells in the blood, a bioengineered enzyme that scrubs microbial biofilms and the creation of a safe and efficient chemical reagent that is stable at room temperature.
These Lehigh presentations are all National Innovation Awardees, chosen through an industry-review process of the top 20 percent of annually submitted technologies and based on the potential positive impact the technology will have on industry.
Bioengineer Yaling Liu (www.lehigh.edu/~inmem/faculty/liu.html) has developed a tiny device that can capture tumor cells circulating in the blood and potentially indicate disease type, as well as genetic and protein markers that may provide potential treatment options. www.techconnectworld.com/World2015/participate/innovation/pop.html?id=360
Lehigh chemical and biomolecular engineer Bryan Berger (www.lehigh.edu/~inberger/Welcome.html) wants to improve food safety and keep medical devices clean with an enzyme he's bioengineered that attack biofilms.
Chemist David Vicic ( https://chemistry.cas2.lehigh.edu//faculty/david-vicic ) has created a new chemical reactant that is stable at room temperature, potentially eliminating the use of traditional hazardous regents.
TechConnect is one of the largest multi-sector gathering of technology IP, technology ventures, industrial partners, and investors in the world and brings together the world's top technology transfer offices, companies, and investment firms to locate the most promising technologies and early stage companies from across the globe. Attendees include innovators, funding agencies, national and federal labs, international research organizations, universities, tech transfer offices and investment and corporate partners. The 2015 TechConnect World Innovation event encompasses the 2015 SBIR/STTR National Conference, the 2015 National Innovation Summit and Showcase, and Nanotech2015 - the world's largest nanotechnology event.
A complete list of Lehigh innovations at TechConnect 2015:
A method to cheaply manufacture quantum dots using bacteria, by principal researcher Bryan Berger.
Bioengineered enzymes that safely and cheaply fight bacterial biofilms. Principal investigator: Bryan Berger.
A multiplexing optical coherence tomography technology 20 times faster than current systems that preserves image resolution and allows synchronized cross-sectional and three-dimensional (3D) imaging. Principal investigator: Chao Zhou.
An effective, low-cost alternative microfluidic device that closely mimics blood vessels and can mimic disease conditions. Principal investigator: Yaling Liu.
Creation of a miniature medical oxygen concentrator for personal use of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Principal investigator: Mayuresh Kothare.
A biomedically superior bioactive glass that enables the production of porous bone scaffolds that can be tailored to match the tissue growth rate of a given patient type. Principal investigator: Himanshu Jain.
A new distributed-feedback technique that dramatically improves the laser beam patterns and increase the output power levels of semiconductor lasers Principal investigator: Sushil Kumar.
A new pretreatment process to remove unwanted impurities in ceramic powders without any change in the physical properties, leading to better reproducibility of properties and reliability in the final products. Principal investigator: Martin Harmer.