UNC Charlotte’s Invention of the Year Awards Gala celebrates innovation

UNC Charlotte’s second annual Invention of the Year Awards Gala celebrated outstanding faculty and student inventors on April 23 at The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City.

The Gala — hosted by the Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office in the Office of Research Commercialization and Partnerships (ORCP) — brought together researchers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, alumni and community partners to recognize the people behind the discoveries and showcased UNC Charlotte’s leadership in translating research into real-world impact, advancing innovation and economic growth across North Carolina.

“The Invention of the Year Awards Gala was created to celebrate something that is often invisible outside the research community — the moment when an idea becomes an invention with the potential to change lives,” said the event’s organizer, Laura Peter, executive director of ORCP. “Inventions only achieve their full impact when they move out of the laboratory and into the world.”

Recognizing breakthrough inventions

“By bringing together inventions across multiple fields — life sciences, engineering, computing, energy and beyond — the awards highlighted not only the breadth of discovery at UNC Charlotte but also the depth of the university’s expertise across diverse areas of research,” said Peter. “This cross-disciplinary perspective also helps spark new collaborations.” 

This year, 41 patents were considered for awards, up from 27 last year. 

The following standout inventions with strong potential for real-world impact were recognized at the gala: 

• Clean Energy and Power Systems: Redox self-healing polymers that repair themselves at room temperature, enabling more resilient electronics and energy systems. Invention: Self-healing Polymers - Christopher Bejger, Sushil Bhatta, Fuead Hasan, and Jonathan Gillen
• Information and Data Science: An AI-powered drone platform that supports real-time disaster response and operational decision-making, with applications in emergency management and defense. Invention: AI-powered disaster response system - Elizabeth Johnson and Kaleb Wainright 
• Life Sciences and Health: A bi-specific antibody therapy that enhances the immune system’s ability to target cancer cells, advancing precision medicine. Invention: Bi-specific Antibody Therapy - Pinku Mukherjee and Timothy Erick 
• Physical and Material Sciences: A portable optical inspection system for detecting microscopic defects, supporting high-reliability manufacturing in sectors such as aerospace and semiconductors. Invention: Portable Optical Inspection Device Capable Of Detecting Microscopic Surface Defects - Kosta Falaggis and Sevda Mamaghani

The Grand Award was presented to Soumitra Roy Joy for a breakthrough in signal transmission using engineered metallic island structures — technology with applications in wearable electronics, resilient communications and next-generation defense systems operating in extreme environments.

Voices of innovation

The awards featured keynote speaker Brigadier General E. John Teichert, a distinguished leader and author of Boom!: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation, which explores how bursts of innovation and “booms” drive economic growth and are key to progress. 

The event also included a special message from Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office John Squires, recognizing the vital role that university innovation plays in strengthening America’s economic and technological leadership.

“This event demonstrated how research can advance innovation by creating new companies, attracting investment and generating jobs,” said Corie Curtis, executive director of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Greater Charlotte Region Office. “UNC Charlotte innovators strengthen the regional ecosystem and illustrate Charlotte’s contribution to innovation leadership in the state’s growing life sciences sector.”

Peter points out that innovation can be a long and uncertain journey, and these awards help encourage and support faculty, students and research teams along that path. They also help attract attention from industry leaders, investors and potential collaborators who may be interested in advancing the technology toward commercialization. 

“Universities bring together brilliant researchers, talented students and an environment that encourages bold thinking,” said Peter. “When those discoveries are protected through intellectual property and supported through strong partnerships with industry and investors, they can become the technologies that shape the next generation of economic growth and benefit society.”