Vaidya Honored as UTRF’s Innovator of the Year

Uday Vaidya, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing Professor, was honored as the Innovator of the Year at the 2024 UT Research Foundation’s Innovation Awards.  

Vaidya’s pioneering leadership in advanced composites and materials has transformed lightweight, high-performing materials, driving innovation across industries. Vaidya’s work has fostered impactful partnerships among academia, government, and industry to tackle critical global challenges, resulting in numerous patents that underscore his ingenuity and influence. 

Several other Tickle College of Engineering faculty and students were also recognized for their work during the November 25 ceremony, which featured remarks from University of Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman, UT System President Randy Boyd, and UTRF President Maha Krishnamurthy. 

Recognized for launching startups: 

• Ryan Spencer (MABE), Vaidya: ThermaMatrix, Inc. 

Recognized for licensed technologies:  

• Hicham Ghossein (MABE), Vaidya: Endeavor Composites, Inc. 

• Tony Schmitz (MABE): Mazak Corporation and SID Tool Company 

Recognized for issued patents: 

• Fei Wang (EECS), Edward Jones (EECS): Drain Current Sensing and Fault Protection Circuit Based on Gate Voltage for Gate Current Driven Field Effect Transistors. (#11,705,720) 

• Caleb Rucker (MABE): Surgical Device Tip with Deflectable Joint (#11,723,738) 

• Vaidya, Ghossein: Systems, Devices, and Methods of Enhancing Carbon Fiber Dispersion in Wet-Laid Nonwovens (#11,802,357) 

• Fei Wang (EECS), Jingxin Wang (EECS), Yiwei Ma (EECS): Power System Component Testing Using a Power System Emulator-Based Testing Apparatus (#11,754,637) 

• Fei Wang, Jingxin Wang: Scalable Reconfigurable Apparatus and Methods for Electric Power System Emulation (#11,923,666) 

• Cary Dean Smith (UTSI), Mark Gragston (MABE), Zhili Zhang (MABE): High-Speed Imaging Using Periodic Optically Modulated Detection. (#11,960,100) 

Contact 

Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)