First Round Of Idaho’s Public-Private Innovation Grant Winners Selected

Idaho Technology Council

The Idaho Department of Commerce announced yesterday the first round of Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission, or IGEM, grant recipients.

The Department reports 18 groups applied for the grant funding. Seven will receive the awards totaling $844,093. An additional $105,907 will go to the Idaho Commerce Business and Jobs Development fund.

Here’s the list of grant recipients from the Department of Commerce:

• University of Idaho, Avista, URS: Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation, $114,864- “Bio-Concrete”Patented Technology is a microbial induced calcite precipitation (MICP) process that uses microorganism already present in the soil to form calcite or “bio-cement.” This emerging green technology – MICP “bio-cement” – will be an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional cement-based products and useful where cement-based products are not appropriate.  Specifically, this industry partnership using IGEM grant money will determine the commercial viability of using this technology to strengthen soils around existing structures.”
• University of Idaho, Aquatic Life Sciences, Inc.: Commercializing Aquatic Animal Health Products, $124,021–“This project will provide needed support to address critical regulatory requirements for commercialization of two aquatic animal health products (a live attenuated fish vaccine and a probiotic feed additive) aimed at reducing fish losses in aquaculture facilities due to coldwater disease (CWD).  This disease is one of the leading problems in trout and salmon culture worldwide and causes an average of 30 percent loss in the Idaho trout industry.”
• University of Idaho, GenZ Technology: Pesticide Application Technology, $46,146 – “The University of Idaho is working in collaboration with GenZ Technology, an early stage agricultural engineering company located in Boise, Idaho. GenZ Technology has developed an innovative new technology spraying system designed to increase the efficiency of pesticide applications while reducing pesticide that misses the intended foliage target and reducing the off-target movement of pesticides from the sprayed area.”
• University of Idaho, Micron Technology: High Speed Digital Package Measurement and Modeling for Next Generation Memory Modules, $150,000– “Infrastructure improvements at the University of Idaho for the purpose of measuring, modeling and developing techniques that enable rapid development the next generation of high speed memory products and packages.”
• University of Idaho, Agri Beef Co, IntelliScience Corporation: Determine Viability of Automated Quantitative Detection of E. coli, $78,076 – “This project couples University of Idaho food safety and microbiology knowledge and infrastructure with two Idaho industry partners: IntelliScience Corp, with its imaging and software expertise and Agri Beef Corp, with its cattle processing plant.  The method will combine quantitative PCR to rapidly screen for O157 coupled with confirmatory bacterial colony growth and identification on differential medium using imaging and unique recognition software.”
• Boise State University, Gem Pharmaceuticals: Preparation and Pre-clinical Testing of DNA-Modifying Anticancer Agents, $80,986 – “The work described in this proposal aims to synthesize and conduct preclinical studies on several potential anticancer agents that are expected to have advantages over compounds currently in clinical use. The project focuses on analogs of doxorubicin and mitomycin C, two compounds that have historically important roles in the treatment of a variety of cancer types. However, their clinical utility has declined in recent years due to dose-limiting side effects. The analogs were chosen with the purpose of alleviating these side-effects.”
• Idaho State University, TriboTex, Campbell Scientific: Nanofabrication Infrastructure Support, $250,000-“The nanofabrication infrastructure supporting project is directly geared towards building much needed infrastructure to grow cutting edge local and regional technology businesses in southeastern Idaho. The heart of this proposal is the acquisition of a DualBeam Nanomachining Center. The DualBeam system is a unique system with both high resolution imaging and nano-machining capabilities in one tool.”

The request for proposals for the next round of IGEM grants will be available in September.