The biggest sociological challenges also present the greatest potential, from an inventor's point of view. With environmental and developmental innovations, we can solve major social problems, reduce pollution and dependence on fossil fuels, improve education and health care, and help children, seniors, and underserved communities around the globe. These solutions require an abundance of imagination and optimism, without losing sight of real market forces. The Deshpande Center hopes help transform those qualities into viable innovations that will make the world a better place.

• (active) indicates project we are currently funding
• (complete) indicates project has completed funding
• (spin-out) indicates project has formed a company

Vladimir Bulovic: MEMS for large area and flexible applications
A flexible paper thin micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) array that can be used for sensing and actuation over large surfaces. (active)

Tonio Buonassisi : Enhancing Solar Cell Performance
This project aims to demonstrate a scalable method to eliminate bulk defects in commercial solar cell materials (including silicon blocks or wafers), targeting a 20+% relative improvement in performance at marginal additional cost.. (active)

Gang Chen: Treatment of water produced from shale gas extraction
In hydraulic fracturing of shale gas, large quantities of highly saline water are produced.   This water needs to be treated to remove the dissolved salts.  Current methods are expensive and energy intensive. This project will develop a low cost, solvent extraction process to remove the dissolved salts from this “frac” water. This would improve the economics of shale gas extraction. (Fall 2011. Enviro.)

Karen Gleason: Stable Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Light Emitting Diodes
Long-lived LEDs on flexible substrates providing energy efficient portable displays. (active)

Bill Green: New engine to replace diesel
A new take on the fuel-efficient, low-emission HCCI engine would be more robust and less complex than the original and could prove to be a long-awaited alternative to the polluting diesel engine. (complete)

Richard Lanza: Low-cost x-ray imaging systems
An inexpensive x-ray imaging system using off-the-shelf scanners and personal computers could be a boon to medicine in developing countries and could be used for homeland security and inspection applications. (complete)

Emanuel Sachs: High efficiency multi-crystalline solar cells
A new approach to improve the efficiency of multi-crystalline solar cells that could lower the cost per watt of solar energy, allowing it to become more competitive with grid electricity. (complete, spin-out)

Emanuel Sachs: Metallization on Solar Cells
This method for applying circuitry to solar cells could make them much more affordable and energy-efficient. (complete)

Donald Sadoway: A cheaper, greener way to produce titanium - Manufacturing titanium through direct electrolysis could reduce production costs by 50 percent and open up a range of new markets for the metal while also creating a harmless, marketable by-product - oxygen. (complete, spin-out)

Donald Sadoway : High-Amperage Energy Storage Device
A technology to store high-amperage energy for industrial settings.
(active)

Donald Sadoway: Supervalent Battery
A proof-of-concept for a novel battery utilizing a supervalent technology to move energy density beyond the limitations of  Li-ion batteries. (active)

Yang Shao-Horn: Engineered electrode assemblies for PEM fuel cells
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells have great potential for powering cars and other applications, but the most expensive part of the fuel cells, the electrode assemblies, have been cost-prohibitiveÑuntil now. (complete)

Amy Smith: Low-cost electricity-free incubation
The phase change incubator is a revolutionary new incubation technology that enables incubation without electricity and the need for skilled maintenance. Moreover, existing prototypes cost only $100 -significantly less than comparable products - which may allow new markets that currently cannot afford incubators to open up. (complete)

Francesco Stellacci and Jing Kong: Super-hydrophobic Nanomaterials
A simple and rapid nano-material approach to controlling surface wetting that could impact how environmentally hazardous materials are cleaned. (complete)

Timothy Swager : Chemical production of functionalized graphene for enhanced composite materials
The development of a chemical process to produce graphene at a very reasonable cost, leading to the industrial use of new composite materials. (active)

Jefferson Tester: Renewable Propane from Biomass
Technology to allow the production of propane from biomass such as sugar, starches, or cellulose. (complete)

Kripa Varanasi: Nano-engineered surfaces for ultra high power density thermal management
Heat needs to be removed rapidly from high power electronics or the semiconductors will fail. This project will develop a system to very rapidly dissipate large amount of heat from such devices. (active)