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Attention ������̳ faculty, grad students, and beyond! Join us for an exclusive showcase of five groundbreaking research projects tackling cutting-edge topics such as battery technology, artificial intelligence, aviation cybersecurity, and energy grids. These projects, led by ������̳ faculty, will be pitched to a panel of experts, who will announce the selected projects for funding live at the event. This event will take place on Friday, March 7, from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Kaplan Institute.

If you’re faculty: Discover what it takes to pitch successfully and start planning your own application for next year’s TechForward grant—your research could be next to secure funding!

If you’re a graduate student or beyond: Learn about unique opportunities to collaborate on faculty research. If funded, these projects may expand their teams, providing hands-on experience and a chance to contribute to innovations that make a difference.

*Lunch will be provided* Don’t miss this chance to engage with ������̳’s most exciting research and see how TechForward can help you take the next step.

Meet the Innovators

Mohammad Asadi

Solution Name: Air Energy Project

Description: Current battery technology cannot adequately support electric vehicles (EVs), as well as other electrified transportation, including drones, electrified industrial operations, high-energy density battery, long duration, highly durable solid-state lithium air EV makers, drones, and UAs makers, and electrified industrial operations.

Samer Khanafseh

Solution Name: TruNav

Project Description: Navigational systems being hacked and spoofed for nefarious purposes is a significant problem in aviation, posing substantial risks to pilots and passengers. The solution aims detects signal variation at very granular levels to identify potential signal spoofing in navigational systems, thereby ensuring the safety of pilots and passengers on commercial and military aircraft, as well as for unmanned drones commercial airlines, the Air Force, and other organizations using aircraft.

Leon Shaw

Solution Name: Sima Tek

Project Description: The Si-based rechargeable batteries to be developed will have high capacity and long cycle life at low cost. If successful, the Si-based batteries will replace the state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries and lead to widespread adoption of EVs. It will also increase the capacity ten times and improve the life cycle of batteries.

Dillon Pranger

Solution Name: ReTile

Project Description: I am in the process of developing a 100 percent recycled plastic tile used for interior architectural finish applications. This product aims to provide a sustainable alternative to existing interior building materials currently available on the market. This product will help reduce carbon emissions and finite resource consumption associated with current building materials by providing a closed-loop solution that can be endlessly reused and recycled.

Cecilia MoSze Tham

Solution Name: Futuring Agents

Project Description: We are developing a system for multi-agent forecasting and ideation for innovation in industry, technology and science. In a landmark study in the field of forecasting, Tetlock found that human experts performed forecasting only slightly better than random guessing, and they did not perform as well as even a minimally sophisticated statistical model. Our system will apply both statistical tools and visionary ideas to bring rigor and imagination to this process. In simple terms, we are training our system with millions of documents and data such as scientific papers, patents, funding for science-driven (“deeptech”) startups, and even science fiction novels. Based on the patterns for how quickly or slowly past innovations have gone from research into the market, it can predict in the near- to mid-term how current and future technologies will be ready. More importantly, for the longer-term view, we are training parts of the system to act as experts (“agents”) with deep understanding of a specific field, such as synthetic biology, quantum computing, or diabetes treatment. Other agents are trained on statistical forecasting techniques, while others use subjective and creative approaches to imagining and inventing future technologies (brainstorming, out-of-the-box thinking, strategic foresight, etc.). Finally, we are training these expert agents to collaborate with one another and with humans to come up with new ideas and solutions at large scale (generating and evaluating thousands of ideas). This is the topic of my Ph.D. these, “Algorithmic Futuring,” and it is a way to improve this critical, but poorly-performed process as it is conducted by R&D teams, funding agencies, venture investors, and many others today.

About TechForward

This event is part of ������̳'s TechForward initiative, which fosters market-driven research and develops a diverse workforce in high-growth tech sectors. TechForward emphasizes inclusivity, aiming to empower underrepresented populations in Chicago’s dynamic innovation ecosystem. Whether you’re just beginning your commercialization journey or looking for ways to accelerate your current project, this event is designed to help you witness some of the process to receive TechForward funding!