POP Grants Awarded to Two Engineers

Feb. 20, 2020  - Two Samueli School professors – Regina Ragan and Michelle Khine – have been awarded Proof of Product (POP) Grants from UCI Beall Applied Innovation.

POP Grants are intended to accelerate the development of UC Irvine’s commercially promising technology. The grants of up to $100,000 help faculty innovators demonstrate commercial viability and improve their chances to obtain additional funding from angel investments, venture funding and/or government grants.

Ragan, professor of materials science and engineering, will receive $99,856 for her project, “Culture-free Diagnostics for Antibiotic Stewardship.” The funds for Ragan’s project are sponsored by Beckman Coulter, a Danaher Corp. company. The grant will support her efforts to train algorithms on spectra data from optical sensors to predict antibiotic susceptibility from pathogens relevant to urinary tract infections and demonstrate a portable prototype.

Khine, professor of biomedical engineering, will receive $70,000 for her project, “Noninvasive Continuous Blood Pressure Band-aid Sensor,” a soft, wearable pressure sensor for monitoring continuous blood pressure. The grant will fund the creation of a wireless prototype.

– Lori Brandt