OCAST funds six R&D Intern Partnerships

OCAST’s governing board has approved six R&D faculty and student intern partnerships totaling $295,752 for the next two years. The program pays half of the student’s salary for interning with a private company with oversight provided by university faculty. Each internship requires a background in a technology driven field.

Each R&D Intern Partnership project will operate in collaboration with universities and private-sector companies in Tulsa, Stillwater, Norman, Edmond and Oklahoma City. OCAST is the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.

More than 600 undergraduate students have interned at nearly 100 Oklahoma industries since the program’s inception.

OCAST’s program is designed to assist technology-based job creation.  It combines university faculty oversight with financial support and company mentoring from the private sector. Many of the college students who participate in the program eventually become employees of the small businesses that sponsor them.

The most recent program awards follow:

Subassemblies/Components

Tulsa – Surendra Singh of the University of Tulsa will mentor interns who will design and develop transceiver modems and redesign of legacy products to include the new modem and a new magnetic detector. Qual-Tron Inc. is the private sector participant. Qual-Tron management expects to increase their product line and revenue base creating job opportunities for engineers and technicians in Oklahoma. Award: $60,000 for two years

Advanced Materials

Norman – Ricardo Prada-Silvy with Southwest NanoTechnologies (SWeNT) Inc. will direct student interns in nanotechnology research. Plans call for hiring three interns for projects currently underway at SWeNT which is an internationally recognized firm with a focus on nanotechnology development. Award: $59,910 for two years

Stillwater – Ranji Vaidyanathan with the Oklahoma State University New Product Development Center will oversee interns who will develop the technology for composite over-wrapped storage containers. It is estimated the development has the potential for increased sales of up to $20 million for Wilco Machine and Fab Inc. The National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation will provide the private sector match. Award: $42,434 for two years

Biotechnology

Tulsa – The Oklahoma Life Science Fund directed by William Paiva proposes overseeing interns in the New Venture Professional Development Program to develop skills to serve Oklahoma’s growing biotechnology and venture capital industry. Seven portfolio companies in the Oklahoma Life Science Fund will participate in the project. Award: $24,000 for two years

Oklahoma City – Fabiola Janiak-Spens will oversee interns in various biotechnology programs with the goal of helping develop a skilled biotechnology workforce. Oklahoma City Community College is the award winning support institution and the research sites include Analytical Research Laboratories, DNA Solutions, Cytovance Biologics LLC, Federal Aviation Administration, Immuno-Mycologics Inc., Crescendo Bioscience Inc., the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Hyalose and the Dean A. McGee Eye Institute. Award: $49,408 for two years

Medical

Edmond – David Makanani of OMEDtech LLC in Edmond will work with four undergraduate engineering interns at Oklahoma Christian University to develop and test novel medical devices. The projects include development of a cervical sensor, testing for a new pediatric urinary catheter for FDA approval and testing for a mouthpiece as part of a biodosimetry triage device. Award: $60,000 for two years