The U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF) and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine hosted the first Innovation Forum in Kyiv on March 31, 2009.  This event showcased emerging technologies in Ukraine, providing the participating teams with exposure to potential investors and partners.

The Forum was the concluding event in the STEP Business Partner Grant Competition. Eleven teams -- all semifinalists of the STEP Business Partnership Grant competition -- "pitched" their plans to commercialize to an expert panel of judges.  Semifinalists participated in an intense three-day STEP Technology Entrepreneurship Development Program in early March where U.S. and Ukrainian business professionals provided personalized training and coaching to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Eric Novotny, Senior Vice-President of CRDF, and Maksim Strikha, Minister of the Ministry of Education & Science jointly awarded $120,000 for five of the finalists to implement their proposals. The five funded projects will engage 18 former weapons researchers.

Below is a detailed description of the winning projects:

HOMER: Vascular Microsurgery – New Technology and Instruments

Reconnecting small bodily vessels, blood, nerve, etc. is challenging with current technology because of the technique required and the time necessary to perform this type of surgery. The Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University team, headed by Vasyl Krysa, and “VALAR” company are working on the creation of the newest instruments for micro-surgery of vessels, with the end result of this project being the creation of experimental surgical instruments able in clinical conditions to lay anastomosis on vessels of small diameter, which will be fast and seamless.

We Tune the Immune System to Cure Tuberculosis

Treatment of multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis (TB) is 100 times more expensive than treatment of drug-susceptible TB, requiring intensive clinical management for prolonged time (18-24 months) and more toxic treatment course. The Lisichansk Regional TB Dispensary team and the Ekomed LLC propose an herbal treatment that appears to accelerate the effectiveness of drugs in the treatment of Tuberculosis, helping reduce treatment duration to less than 4 months and enhance by 2-10 times the efficacy of TB drugs.

Making Superalloy Scrap Recycling Highly Profitable

Recycling super-alloy scrap is expensive and complex because of the presence of more than 20 alloying elements in different contents and variations. The scientists from Physical and Technological Institute of Metals and Alloys and the Pratt & Whitney company have attempted to address this problem by developing a method to subject super-alloy materials to deep oxidative refinement at elevated temperatures in a solid state. This will help provide a practical option for the reclamation of virtually all valuable elements.

Smart Technology That Saves Fuel and the Environment

This innovative technology aims at reducing drag of various vehicles or any elements moving in fluids. The flow-control concept developed by Nina Yurchenko raises the operational efficiency under conditions of minimized energy outlay. The combined research team of the Institute of Hydromechanics, National Academy of Sciences, and of the National Aviation University of Ukraine is working on engineering solutions to improve the airfoil performance with the primary goal to reduce fuel consumption and environment pollution by aircraft and automotive vehicles.

Smart Solution to Manage Power

Ultra capacitors, also known as electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLC), are high-power energy storage devices, which can be used in a variety of applications. Within the scope of this project, the Institute of Sorption and Problem of Endoecology (ISPE) of NASU and ApowerCap Technologies company are aiming to develop new nanoporous carbon materials to be applied in electrochemical systems for energy recuperation. The activated carbon in EDLC is one of the key materials that influence cell performance. It also constitutes about 20%-30% of its final cost. Recent developments in new carbon materials allow achieving high surface area, purity and low surface contamination by functional groups.

In addition, two panels were arranged during the Forum to provide information about technology entrepreneurship, the venture capital industry, and how to successfully launch a business.

All presentations are available here in English and Ukrainian:

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