{"685764":{"#nid":"685764","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Making an Impact: GT NEXT Awards Support Student Innovation ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Office of Technology Licensing has announced the 2025 recipients of the GT NEXT awards, a grant that helps students advance their inventions toward market readiness. Providing early momentum for promising technologies, the grants help students move their research toward real-world impact.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u2019s selection committee chose projects focused on artificial intelligence, therapeutic drug development, data privacy, energy efficiency, and cancer treatment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAwardees\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERyan Kern\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProject:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E3-HPT Derivatives for Cancer Treatment\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKern is developing small-molecule chemotherapy drugs to treat metastatic breast cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer. His team has shown promising in vitro results and will use GT NEXT funding to evaluate the compounds in vivo.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe ultimate goal is clinical use,\u201d Kern said. \u201cWe want to translate this research from the lab bench into patient care.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJames Read\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProject:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003ECompute-in-Memory Neural Processor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERead\u2019s team is building a chip that performs AI computations inside memory, reducing energy consumption by up to 80 times compared to GPUs (graphics processing units). The funding will support fabrication of a prototype through GlobalFoundries\u2019 28-nanometer process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur compute-in-memory circuits let us run AI models without shuttling data back and forth between memory and processors,\u201d Read said. \u201cGT NEXT funding lets us fabricate the prototype chip that proves this concept.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJianming Tong\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProject:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EPrivate Inference as a Service\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETong is developing a privacy-preserving infrastructure for AI systems that does not require hardware modifications. The system supports real-time privacy in sensitive sectors such as healthcare and finance. GT NEXT funding will support testing and validation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe future of AI will demand not only performance, but trust,\u201d Tong said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAli Zamat\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProject\u003C\/strong\u003E: Membrane-Bound Immunotherapy Using GATEs\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZamat is developing an mRNA-based cancer therapy that trains tumors to activate immune responses. GT NEXT funding will support early testing in head and neck cancer models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis strategy could lead to safer, more precise treatments,\u201d Zamat said. \u201cWe hope to expand GATEs to other cancers and eventually autoimmune disease.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAshkan Zandi\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProject:\u003C\/strong\u003E VibraScope \u2014 Radiation-Free Detection of Lung Nodules\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZandi is developing VibraScope, a radiation-free platform that uses chest-surface vibrations and AI analysis to detect lung nodules. GT NEXT funding will support testing with patient-derived models to validate the technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis approach could make lung cancer screening more accessible,\u201d Zandi said. \u201cOur goal is to move VibraScope closer to clinical use.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout GT NEXT\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGT NEXT provides early-stage funding to graduate students and postdocs with at least one year of research experience. Eligible applicants must\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/licensing.research.gatech.edu\/researcher-toolkit\/forms-georgia-tech-researchers\u0022\u003E submit\u003C\/a\u003E a new invention disclosure tied to Georgia Tech-owned intellectual property. Funding can be used for project-related expenses such as materials, equipment, and prototyping. Salary, tuition, travel, and overhead are not allowed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAwardees are required to submit progress updates at six and 12 months and may be invited to present at Tech Meet, a showcase for emerging Georgia Tech technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo learn more or submit an invention disclosure, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/licensing.research.gatech.edu\/helping-transform-your-research-and-discoveries\u0022\u003Ethe Office of Technology Licensing website.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Office of Technology Licensing has announced the 2025 recipients of the GT NEXT awards, a grant that helps students advance their inventions toward market readiness. Providing early momentum for promising technologies, the grants help students move their research toward real-world impact.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Office of Technology Licensing has announced the 2025 recipients of the GT NEXT awards, a grant that helps students advance their inventions toward market readiness. "}],"uid":"36434","created_gmt":"2025-10-16 18:35:30","changed_gmt":"2026-04-21 03:38:40","author":"lcameron30","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678367":{"id":"678367","type":"image","title":"GT NEXT 2025 Recipients ","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGT NEXT 2025 Recipients\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1760639759","gmt_created":"2025-10-16 18:35:59","changed":"1760639759","gmt_changed":"2025-10-16 18:35:59","alt":"GT NEXT 2025 Recipients ","file":{"fid":"262385","name":"GTNext-Winners.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/10\/16\/GTNext-Winners.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/10\/16\/GTNext-Winners.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1075105,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/10\/16\/GTNext-Winners.jpg?itok=jOIVLA5G"}}},"media_ids":["678367"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"655285","name":"GT Commercialization"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"192255","name":"go-commercializationnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193658","name":"Commercialization"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELacey Cameron\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Elcameron30@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}