Team of Buckeye engineers named finalist for Lemelson-MIT National Prize
Seniors Kinshuk Mitra and Brett Geiger (biomedical engineering) and freshmen Aaron Maharry (electrical engineering) and Preethi Chidambaram (biomedical engineering) are commercializing a novel cancer diagnostic technology invented by Mitra.
The Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize Competition is a nationwide search for the most inventive undergraduate and graduate students in two categories:
- “Cure it!” for students with inventions that can improve healthcare
- “Use it!” for students with inventions that can improve consumer devices and tools
Supported by The Lemelson Foundation, the prize competition was open to teams of undergraduate students and individual graduate students.
The Buckeye engineers were one of only four undergraduate finalist teams nationwide in the “Cure it!” healthcare category.
Mitra’s biotechnology brainchild is a microbead mesh that quickly and cost-effectively separates cancer cells from healthy cells in blood samples. Cells being shed from primary tumors into the blood stream are one of the earliest physiological signs of cancer.
OncoFilter won top honors at the 2013 Ohio State University Business Plan Competition, a victory that included $25,000 in cash and more than $60,000 worth of business and legal consulting.
The team also earned E-Team Program Grants from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. The grants totaled $24,400 in early-stage funding, and also included professional business training and access to mentor coaching.
Professor and Stefanie Spielman Chair in Cancer Imaging Michael Tweedle is OncoFilter’s chief scientific advisor. The advisory board also includes researchers from Ohio State, Stanford and MIT.
