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26 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2017 SPONSORED REPORT Strategic Entrepreneurship at UConn and the faculty director at UConn's Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. "Companies want students with these skills and the Center is determined to continue to build this 'human capital'—for Connecticut and the country.'' New Partnerships Solving Old Problems Often the biggest hurdle that startups face comes prior to launch when they need funding to develop prototypes, test theories, obtain patents and establish other building blocks of business. UConn provides that support in many ways. The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Consortium, for instance, brings together a comprehensive list of funding sources for businesses, from startups to established organizations. In August 2016, UConn partnered with Connecticut Innovations and Webster Bank to create the UConn Innovation Fund, which provides $750,000 a year to UConn students, faculty and alumni seeking money to establish a new business. And while funding is crucial, there is more to creating a strong company. Technology Commercialization Services, housed in the Office of the Vice President for Research, facilitates the transformation of UConn technologies into products and services that benefit patients, industry and society, through patent protection, licensing, incubation facilities and contacts with investors. UConn's Technology Incubation Program (TIP) also offers access to labs I n the middle of a June night in 1983, a 100-foot span of the Mianus River Bridge in Greenwich, Conn., collapsed, plunging two cars and two tractor- trailers into the river 70 feet below. Three people died, three were seri- ously injured, and diverted I-95 traffic snarled local streets for six months. Inspections revealed that an undetected fatigue crack caused the catastrophic bridge failure. Kevin McMullen, a structural engineering Ph.D. student at UConn, is too young to remember that tragedy. But he has designed a bridge-safety monitoring device that might have prevented it. He's hoping his company, NexGen Infrastructure, can revolutionize transportation safety. Using force-sensing pads that con- tinuously monitor bridges, the system can warn engineers about a bridge that is overstressed. The pads can be installed on a new bridge or one that is being repaired. The system doesn't replace hu- man inspection, but can help establish priorities in a nation where one in 10 bridges is structurally deficient. "Our hope is that if something is going drastically wrong with a bridge, engineers would be alerted that the bridge needs to be inspected right away,'' he said. "We are anticipating that the federal government and state departments of transportation will feel it is a worthwhile investment.'' McMullen recently received a $40,000 grant from the UConn School of Engineering in partnership with Con- necticut Innovations. This award is given to engineering students with promising technologies, to help them enter the marketplace. Ironically, the award is called the Third Bridge Grant. "Not much has changed in infra- structure over the last few decades,'' McMullen said. "More recently, new technologies are being developed for infrastructure and civil engineering. This push towards innovation makes me know I'm in the right field.'' McMullen, who earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from UConn in 2015, smiles when asked how he developed his passion. "As a kid, I built with Legos and loved creating things,'' he said. "When I decided what to study at UConn, civil engineering was the choice for me. And for some reason, I've just always loved bridges.'' He is working on a Ph.D. thesis about a new, streamlined bridge-repair process that would be more cost effec- tive and minimize traffic disruptions. "Many people surrounding me at UConn, including Professor Hadi Bo- zorgmanesh, who teaches an entrepre- neurship program for graduate stu- dents, and my adviser, Professor Arash Zaghi, have really pushed innovation and got me thinking out of the box,'' said McMullen. "UConn has been very instrumental in getting my company off the ground. The Third Bridge Grant I was awarded is helping me to start my company and bridge 'the valley of death,' so when I leave UConn, I can hit the ground running.'' Kevin McMullen, a structural engineering Ph.D. student at UConn, stands in front of the landmark East Haddam Swing Bridge. McMullen has designed a system to monitor bridge performance that he hopes will revolutionize the transportation industry. PHOTO: Nathan Oldham/UConn "I'm in the Right Field" UConn Structural Engineering Student Devises Continuous Monitoring System for Bridges