Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

MEET THE WARF INVENTORS THAT ARE PART OF OUR LEGACY

UW-Madison has a long history of landmark inventions that have the potential to improve the lives of millions. In partnership with the university, WARF is proud to advance those discoveries to market where they can begin making an impact.

From new options for cancer diagnostics and treatment to technologies that may lead to faster, greener and more powerful computers, from improved wireless communications to advancements in clean technology, UW-Madison researchers are continually developing game-changing innovations.

Meet some of the university researchers and their ideas that have the potential to change the world.

David Lynn
With support from WARF Accelerator, a super-slippery coating being developed at a University of Wisconsin-Madison lab could benefit medical catheters, factory equipment and even some day, oil tankers....

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Kevin Barnett, Kefeng Huang & George Huber
“When I describe what I do, I say I put dirt in a reactor, heat it up and flow liquid over it,” jokes Kevin Barnett. It is a profound understatement for Barnett, a postdoctoral researcher in the visionary lab of Prof. George Huber...

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Melissa Skala
There was a time when biomedical engineer Melissa Skala dreamed of becoming an astronaut. But at a young age a fascination with physics, and then with light, emerged....

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Nader Behdad

Nader Behdad

Nader Behdad’s laboratory in Engineering Hall seems to buzz with a hundred ideas. Boxy power amplifiers line the back wall while copper clippings curl across the tabletop….

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Robert Thorne

Robert Thorne

In a laboratory in Rennebohm Hall, Robert Thorne picks up the 700-page textbook he co-authored. The UW-Madison neuroscientist has sick brains on his mind….

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Xuejun Pan

Xuejun Pan

A vial of white sugar sits on Xuejun Pan’s desk beside a box of wood chips. “It’s pretty pure and sweet,” he says, pointing to the sugar. “I’m not encouraging you. But it’s edible.”…

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Avtar Roopra

Avtar Roopra

In a story of scientific discovery filled with as many twists and turns as a Northwoods trail, a rare insight from a massive public database and charitable support from an off-road motorcycle group have paved the way for work…

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Jim Steele

Jim Steele

As a lab assistant lifts the glass from its warm water bath, a turbid brown liquid swirls inside. It certainly won’t win any beauty contests. But it might save your life — at just 3 cents per serving….

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Aditya Akella

Aditya Akella

Aditya Akella considers himself a high tech plumber. And it likely won’t be long until tech-savvy consumers everywhere are grateful for his efforts to keep data flowing smoothly through the virtual pipes…

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Glen Kwon & Kevin Kozak

Glen Kwon & Kevin Kozak

For patients suffering from metastatic lung or metastatic breast cancer, the prospects for successful treatment are limited and even the best outcomes may result in a diminished quality of life….

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Xudong Wang

Xudong Wang

Using a new class of nanomaterials, a University of Wisconsin-Madison inventor is working to capture energy from the sun much as nature intended—with trees in a forest. But these forests fit on a silicon wafer….

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Mike Arnold

Mike Arnold

The heat is on in Mike Arnold’s lab. Furnaces set to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit blast methane gas over copper substrates to deposit a single layer of carbon-based graphene crystals in a process that may prove more valuable than turning lead to gold….

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