{"253581":{"#nid":"253581","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Starter Offers New Funding Solution","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn need of funding for a creative research project? Well, a new Georgia Tech-backed crowdfunding website may be just the resource you\u2019re looking for.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Starter is the world\u2019s first peer-reviewed, university-based crowdfunding platform for science and engineering projects. Only members of the Tech community can post projects to the site.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe success of projects on other popular crowdfunding sites is roughly 43 percent, which is much better than the odds on receiving funding from more conventional funding sources,\u201d said Allison Mercer, the Georgia Tech Research Institute researcher who founded the site. \u201cAnd Georgia Tech Starter can help support projects in ways other than monetarily. Supporters who don\u2019t donate can instead spread the word about projects via social media sites, which can lead to more exposure and funding.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERead on to learn about three of the six projects currently on the site.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\/#121\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBioBots\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECasey Haynes, a biomedical engineering major, is only in her second year at Tech but is already representing the Institute on a worldwide scale.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe\u2019s part of a seven-person undergraduate team that participated in the iGem (International Genetically Engineered Machine) world jamboree, an annual competition held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are trying to create what we like to call a BioBot, which is essentially a biological robot that has the ability to sense and interact with its environment,\u201d Haynes said. \u201cIn order to create our BioBot, we are trying to express a human cell sensor called an integrin on the surface of a bacterial cell for the first time. This would allow the bacteria cell to interact with its environment in a way it hasn\u2019t before, and interact with proteins around it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExpressing integrins on bacterial cells can have other applications such as localized drug delivery and the detection of cancer cells, she added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Tech Starter funding will most likely cover next year\u2019s iGem registration fee and travel expenses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\/#46\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAntibiotics and Algae\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETroy Alexander, a doctoral candidate, works as a researcher in School of Biology Professor Julia Kubanek\u2019s group. His project, \u201cAccelerating the Discovery of Antibiotics from Algae,\u201d seeks to accelerate the discovery of new medicines for the treatment of infectious diseases from Fijian red algae.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the Tech Starter site description, \u201cThis project represents the first step in discovering new compounds with medicinal properties. Future work, potentially partnering with collaborators and pharmaceutical companies, would facilitate taking medicinal compounds toward commercialization and clinical use.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe amount we seek to raise [$9,450] is large enough to make an impact on our research, but it\u2019s not so large to sound insurmountable to donors,\u201d Alexander said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EContributions will fund analysis of a large number of samples, which will enable the team to explore new medicines from marine organisms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe fully-funded project is expected to produce one to two publications reporting two to five new medicinally active molecules, according to the Tech Starter site.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\/#91\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERobosaur\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMark Kingsbury, a doctoral candidate in physics and a researcher in the Complex Rheology and Biomechanics Lab, is working with Associate Professor Daniel Goldman and a collaborator at Brown University to build a Robosaur. The project, \u201cRobosaur Walks,\u201d will study how dinosaurs walked, with the goal of using the secrets of the past to enhance the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re building this robotic model to be able to analyze how dinosaurs walked from a simple perspective,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a lot of information about their tracks, but don\u2019t yet have a technique for unearthing the information buried within the tracks.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the reasons Kingsbury likes the idea of raising funds on Tech Starter is that the site allows people to invest directly in science.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt lets researchers reach out directly to people, who can become a part of science and become more science-literate, which can only lead to good things,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInterested in submitting a proposal? Click \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn need of funding for a creative research project? Well, a new Georgia Tech-backed crowdfunding website may be just the resource you\u2019re looking for.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In need of funding for a creative research project? Well, a new Georgia Tech-backed crowdfunding website may be just the resource you\u2019re looking for."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2013-11-11 16:04:59","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:18","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"253541":{"id":"253541","type":"image","title":"Robosaur","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894934","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:54","alt":"Robosaur","file":{"fid":"198157","name":"robosaur.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robosaur_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robosaur_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":7222018,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robosaur_0.jpg?itok=KZzcpvrF"}}},"media_ids":["253541"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Starter"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"79271","name":"algae"},{"id":"11571","name":"Antibiotics"},{"id":"79541","name":"crowd-funding"},{"id":"11152","name":"iGEM"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"79051","name":"Robosaur"},{"id":"79531","name":"Tech Starter"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}