2022 BWP Award Winner

2022 Better World Project Award Winner

AUTM's Better World Project highlights the global impact of research commercialization and the vital role that technology transfer plays in that process. The annual Better World Project Award honors the exemplary work of one technology transfer office from the stories submitted the previous year. More than 65 stories were submitted to the Better World Project last year. The Better World Project Committee narrowed them down to three very worthy finalists.

With a record-breaking amount of votes - more than 1,000 - the 2022 Better World Project Award winner is:

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Li-ion Battery Recycling
Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Process Produces More Power and Lessens Environmental Impact: Worcester Polytechnic Institute researcher Yan Wang has turned trash into treasure by developing a new process to recycle depleted lithium-ion batteries. Current Li-ion batteries rely on materials mined largely in China, where the supply chain is less secure. Recycling batteries saves valuable resources and lessens the environmental impact of manufacturing, and testing has shown this method produces 83% more power and at least 33% more cycles than mined materials. The technology was licensed to Battery Resourcers, recently renamed Ascend Elements, which has raised more than $90 million in funding and continues to grow. Read the Story

Meet the finalists:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
DreamWarmer
Life-Saving Warmth for Newborns with Hypothermia: Hypothermia contributes to the death of an estimated one million newborns every year. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley and partners Boston Children’s Hospital, Partners in Health, and the Rwanda Ministry of Health have developed a low-cost, portable, life-saving infant warmer that does not require electricity. Through technology transfer agreements, including an IIA, Berkeley Lab took the lead on exclusively licensing the collective intellectual property to Global Newborn Solutions, which is taking the DreamWarmer to countries where it is needed, and identifying and on-boarding strategic commercial partners. Read the Story

University of Minnesota 
TRUE Tissue
Tissue Tech Regenerative Medicine to Fight Disease: University of Minnesota Technology Commercialization licensed TRUE Tissue technology, the tech behind an implantable biomaterial that has similar properties to tissue in a human body. For example, it can integrate with the heart and grow within the body–as well as heal itself–resulting in safer cardiovascular surgery. Startup and licensee Vascudyne, a biotechnology trailblazer in regenerative medicine, is working to get the technology into the hands of surgeons to benefit the millions of patients in need of replacement and repair tissues. Read the Story
If you want to be in the running for the Better World Project Award next year, please visit www.autm.net/BWP to submit your technology transfer office's success story! We'd love to see your story here in 2023.
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