Engineering graduate students receive entrepreneurship awards
Monday, August 12, 2019
Two OSU-Tulsa engineering graduate students recently received awards from the Oklahoma Catalyst Researchers program to help fund startups focused on using technology to improve water. Two of the program’s three winners were OSU-Tulsa students.
Andrew Williamson, a master’s student in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Dan Lowry, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering, were each awarded $3,000.
Williamson plans to use his award to launch his startup, AquaVapor, in collaboration with Dr. Khaled Sallam, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. His startup will focus on providing filterless water purification units for houses. He has been working on this idea since he was an undergraduate student at OSU-Tulsa, where he received funding from the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Undergraduate Research Scholars program.
Lowry’s startup, SAR-LOW, will focus on separating oil from produced water and is in collaboration with Dr. Pankaj Sarin, associate professor of materials science and engineering.
Outstanding OSU Entrepreneurs
The technology behind each of these startups was developed at OSU-Tulsa’s Helmerich Research Center. In this state-of-the-art facility, OSU engineering faculty and students work with industry partners to conduct research and develop solutions to real problems.
“We are very proud of our engineering graduate programs at OSU-Tulsa,” said Sallam. “Our students are committed to innovation and developing new technologies that address some of society’s most pressing and complex problems.”
Most importantly, he continued, opportunities like the Oklahoma Catalyst Researchers program ensure those technologies move beyond the lab.
“Our students understand the importance of taking the concepts they develop to the
marketplace. Research and entrepreneurship truly do go hand-in-hand.”
Media Contact: Jamie Edford | 918-594-8024 | jamie.m.edford@okstate.edu