CMI awards more than $450,000 to 10 faculty-industry manufacturing R&D projects

UB’s Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics (CMI) has awarded 10 manufacturing projects more than $450,000 to support development of new materials technologies during the 2025-26 fiscal year.

The investment is the largest number of projects funded by CMI at one time.

Administered Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships, CMI is supported by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). The center fosters collaboration between the academic research community and industry to develop and commercialize new products and technologies and enhance workforce training.

Materials informatics is an emerging field that combines data science and machine learning to accelerate the discovery, optimization and design of materials. It is transforming how industries approach material development by enabling the prediction of new material properties and behaviors through large-scale data analysis.

The 10 manufacturing projects are part of CMI’s Faculty-Industry Applied Research (FIAR) program, which annually supports applied research efforts that drive economic growth and impact with commercial value to manufacturing businesses in New York State. Through CMI FIAR, UB faculty members collaborate with manufacturing and materials companies to gain access to funds for research and development projects in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and clean energy.

“This was an incredibly competitive application cycle, with 24 proposals submitted — the most we’ve ever received,” says Per Stromhaug, senior associate vice president for economic development. “It is quantifiable evidence of the innovative academic-industry partnerships that are driving economic development in New York State, and UB is at the center of it.”

“What’s perhaps most exciting about the 10 recipients is the variety they represent,” says Adrian Levesque, interim director of CMI. “There is quite an array of different kinds of projects in different sectors. There’s a mix of company sizes — four are smaller UB spinouts, four are mid-sized companies and two are large, global names. About half are based in Western New York and half are across the state, which has long been a major goal of this program.” 

The faculty members awarded CMI FIAR support for the 2025-26 fiscal year include:

Faculty: Y. Chris Li, assistant professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences.

Industry partner: Aerammonia Inc. (formerly PlasmaChem Solutions Inc.), a UB spinout focused on energy-efficient ammonia production systems.

Project: Combining machine learning-driven catalyst discovery with experimental validation to develop efficient NOx-to-ammonia conversion technologies, advancing Aerammonia’s prototype reactor development.

Faculty: James Chen, associate professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Wei Chen, associate professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Industry partner: Free Form Fibers, which employs advanced laser-driven chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) technology to manufacture high performance ceramic fibers.

Project: Develop CeramShield AI, a fine-tuned generative model to optimize ceramic matrix composites manufacturing incorporating LCVD-produced materials.

Faculty: Prathima Nalam and Olga Wodo, both associate professors, Department of Materials Design and Innovation.

Industry partner: Bausch + Lomb, a Canadian company that products eye health products.

Project: Create next-generation contact lenses by designing silicone hydrogels that deliver superior comfort and breathability through microstructure-driven performance.

Faculty: Luis R. De Jesús Báez, assistant professor, Department of Chemistry.

Industry partner: Copprium Inc., a company that leverages UB-developed technology to develop conductive copper inks.

Project: Advance AI-driven discovery of molecular copper inks, building on prior data to optimize conductive ink formulations.

Faculty: Jun Liu, associate professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Industry partner: Corning Inc., a company hat invents life-changing technologies using materials science.

Project: Design better-performing glass by uncovering how its chemistry influences surface charging and functional behavior.

Faculty: Uttam Singisetti, Clifford C. Furnas Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Industry partner: Cubefabs Inc., which develops AI-powered modular chip manufacturing facilities.

Project: Develop high-voltage semiconductor diodes to enable reliable, efficient power for electric vehicles and AI infrastructure.

Faculty: Janet Morrow, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry.

Industry partner: Ferric Contrast Inc., a UB spinout that develops safer MRI contrast agents.

Project: Develop multinuclear Fe(III) complexes as sustainable MRI contrast agents to replace gadolinium-based products.

Faculty: Bibhudatta Sahoo, professor, Department of Electrical Engineering.

Industry partner: Hypres Inc., which develops and commercializes superconductor integrated circuits and systems that provide unparalleled high-performance advantages.

Project: Develop compact, precision, multi-channel current sources to bias rapid single flux quantum (RSFQ) logic and superconducting qubits for scalable quantum computing.

Faculty: Krishna Rajan, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Erich Bloch Chair, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor, Department of Materials Design Innovation.

Industry partner: materialsIN Inc., a UB spinout that provides a scalable, industry-grade Informatics platform to accelerate materials discovery, design and manufacturing.

Project: Enhance materialsIN’s materials informatics platform to optimize processes and detect anomalies across diverse industrial applications.

Faculty: Paschalis Alexandridis, UB Distinguished Professor, and Marina Tsianou, professor, both in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Industry partner: Multisorb Filtration Group, which delivers complete, tailored solutions for moisture and oxygen control.

Project: Partnering on eco-friendly contamination disposal solutions.

For more information on CMI and details on the current FIAR application cycle, visit CMI's website on FIAR projects.