Spotlight On: Kellogg Alums Shine at the Chicago Innovation Awards
Three innovations from Northwestern with strong ties to Kellogg School of Management received “Up and Comer” awards at the Chicago Innovation Awards, held on October 22. Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, these awards recognize the most innovative new products or services brought to market or to public service in the Chicago region.
Winners cut across all industries, and I couldn’t resist sharing this shout-out for these great works coming from my alma mater:
The Northwestern Global Health Foundation was recognized for its new HIV test for babies in developing countries that will deliver a diagnosis in less than an hour. The test could dramatically improve the rates at which infected infants are diagnosed and treated.
Established in 2010, the foundation is an independent nonprofit biotech company that develops and distributes medical diagnostics for global health applications, based on technologies developed at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Its founding members include Daniel Diermeier, Kellogg’s IBM Professor of Regulation and Competitive Practice and director of Kellogg’s Ford Motor Company Center for Global Citizenship; Kara Palamountain, the executive director of the Global Health Initiative at Kellogg; and David Kelso, a clinical professor of biomedical engineering at McCormick.
NuMat Technologies was recognized for software that makes gas storage more efficient by analyzing and quickly suggesting ideal metal-organic-framework structures for custom storage applications. These structures have the potential to transform products such as natural gas vehicles. The product of two Northwestern research labs, the NuMat team represents four Northwestern schools: Kellogg, McCormick, Northwestern Law, and the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
BriteSeed was recognized for SafeSnips, technology that can be integrated into surgical tools to detect blood vessels during surgery and prevent unintended bleeding. SafeSnips can alert the surgeon to the vessel’s diameter and orientation, and reveal how fast blood is flowing through the vessel, all in real time. BriteSeed is a medical technology startup led by a Northwestern team that includes Kellogg students.
One of this year’s award recipients was Cummins Allison, which was recognized for a new currency and check scanner that can image and process both cash and checks. The scanner has important implications for financial institutions, retailers and casinos. Cummins Allison is also led by a Kellogg alum, Chairman and CEO William Jones.
The Chicago Innovation Awards are extremely prestigious, and I’m pleased and excited to share this news with my blog readers. As you can see, Kellogg School of Management is a phenomenal springboard for so many types of business ventures, and I congratulate these winners for this well-deserved honor.
