By GREGORY ZELLER //
A data-mining and machine-learning expert with a key job at Stony Brook University’s Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology has earned critical commercialization support – and a healthy chunk of change – from the SUNY Research Foundation.
The State University of New York has named Rong Zhao and his 2020 startup, Orchid Imaging, as the co-winner of the SUNY Startup Summer School Class of 2021 Demo Day, a showcase highlighting the emerging-technologies work of 150-plus system-wide students and faculty members.
Along with co-winners Gennady Bratslavsky and Thomas Sanford – the chairman of urology and an assistant professor of urology, respectively, at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and founders of AI-powered cancer-detecting startup Taurus Diagnostics – Zhao will receive a $10,000 stipend, dubbed an “S4 Technology Accelerator Fund Catalyst Investment.”
The winning S4 teams will also receive follow-up support from SUNY experts designed to help them create strong grant-funding proposals, as well as business-development mentoring and coaching from the SUNY Research Foundation’s Venture Advisors – top-tier management experts who actively advise SUNY-affiliated innovators and entrepreneurs.
Zhao, director of CEWIT’s Software Systems Division and managing director of the National Science Foundation’s Center for Visual and Decision Informatics, which counts SBU as a member institution, boasts a quarter-century of software R&D experience and nearly 20 years of technology-commercialization experience.
Rong Zhao: Man of vision.
Orchid Imaging – which Zhao cofounded with SBU Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Shikui Chen and SBU Applied Mathematics Affiliate Professor/Computer Science Associate Professor David Gu – commercializes high-speed, high-resolution 3D-scanning technologies and advanced 3D-image modeling software for multiple industries, primarily healthcare.
The East Setauket-based startup and Syracuse-based Taurus Diagnostics – on a mission to clarify diagnostic testing for men with suspected prostate cancer – triumphed over an S4 field of 153 SUNY students and faculty/staff members, representing 22 statewide campuses.
The healthy turnout, marking a 20 percent increase over participation in S4’s Class of 2020 event, shows innovation and entrepreneurism are alive and well across the State University system, according to SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras.
“Our SUNY participants are helping spur innovation crucial to society,” Malatras said Wednesday. “I’m excited by what we’re doing, and we need to do more.
“This is where we give students – no matter their background – opportunities to succeed,” the chancellor added. “Programs like the SUNY Startup Summer School help to give our students, faculty and staff opportunities where they wouldn’t have them otherwise.”
