WORCESTER, Mass. – June 20, 2007— The founder of a biomedical company that has developed a polymer technology for treating bone defects has won the 2007 Kalenian Award from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Albert G. Prescott II, a 1990 WPI graduate and president of Crescent Innovations in Worcester, will receive $25,000 to help further development and commercialization of the novel technology.
The Kalenian Award was established in 2006 by Alba Kalenian in memory of her late husband, inventor Aram Kalenian '33. Its purpose is to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among WPI students, faculty, and alumni by providing seed funds to advance their ideas. Alba Kalenian says her husband believed "the highest and best use of a WPI education is to invent, and patent, then create an invention-based business and employ."
This award funds a single viable invention each year. Proposals are reviewed by Paul Kalenian, son of Aram and Alba, and McRae Banks, head of WPI's Department of Management and director of the university's Collaborative for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The winner is selected based on the novelty of the invention, as well as its commercial potential and the likelihood of its success. The seed funds are designed to help recipient move their inventions toward commercialization.
Crescent Innovations Inc. was founded in 2000 to develop products to treat TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorders, degenerative joint disease, bone disease, fractures, and more, using proprietary polymer technology. These state-of-the-art polymers are used to treat chronic and acute pain, along with controlled release/drug delivery products. The company has received a Phase I SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health, and has worked with Fortune 500 companies.
"I cannot emphasize enough how important this award is to us at Crescent Innovations," Prescott says. "The technology we are developing to treat bone defects will ultimately have deep and far reaching benefits to every one of the 50 million people in America who have ever had a bone fracture or defect. We will use the money specifically to develop prototypes, and to push this technology to commercialization."
About Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI was one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. WPI's 18 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, management, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to the BA, BS, MS, ME, MBA and PhD. WPI's world-class faculty work with students in a number of cutting-edge research areas, leading to breakthroughs and innovations in such fields as biotechnology, fuel cells, and information security, materials processing, and nanotechnology. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Perspective Program. There are more than 20 WPI project centers throughout North America and Central America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe.