Winter Named 2012 Inventor of the Year by TechColumbus

Associate Professor Jessica Winter received the 2012 Inventor of the Year Award presented at the 2012 TechColumbus Innovation Awards on February 7, 2013. Winter was recognized for her work using nanopartical materials in biomedical applications, and was selected out of 11 semi-finalists.

Winter is the founder and interim CEO of Core Quantum Technologies, which is working to commercialize the technology that comes out of her laboratory. Winter and research scientist Gang Ruan filed a patent for a new kind of ‘quantum dot’ – a nanoparticle that shines in different colors to tag molecules in biomedical tests. This technology can be used for medical imaging and can also help scientists who are studying the root cause of diseases like cancer.

Earlier this year, Core Quantum Technologies finished first in the Ohio State University business plan competition. Winter’s work has also attracted significant funding, such as a prestigious iCorp grant from the National Science Foundation.

Winter’s designation as TechColumbus’ Innovator of the Year comes on the tails of her October 2012 recognition as one of three William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical Engineering recipients of the university-wide Ohio State University Innovator of the Year Awards.  In the Ohio State Innovator of the Year Awards, Winter was named Early Career Innovator of the Year.   

For more information about Dr. Winter’s work, visit the Winter Lab research page and/or watch a short video filmed in the lab.