Two Stony Brook University (SBU) research initiatives led by Indian American professors Gurtej Singh and Anurag Purwar have received seed funding through the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund, which supports “groundbreaking research opportunities and helps faculty inventors and scientists turn their research into market-ready technologies.”

The SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund focuses on critical early-stage research, including “feasibility studies, prototyping and testing,” to demonstrate the commercial potential of new ideas and innovations, according to a Stony Brook University statement issued on December 29, 2025. The program aims to accelerate the time to market and improve readiness for “potential investors, strategic partners and customers.”

“I applaud our SUNY researchers for their visionary work and for helping secure SUNY’s position as a national leader in cutting-edge research. The SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund helps advance research that will improve New Yorkers’ lives, health, and safety,” said SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr., announcing the awards on December 17. “These investments work to increase the societal impact of our SUNY inventors and scientists by preparing their research for commercialization.”

Singh, a research associate professor of surgery at Stony Brook’s Renaissance School of Medicine, was among seven SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund recipients. His project, DEVA – A Vascularized, Shelf-Stable Skin Substitute for Advanced Wound Care, addresses limitations in existing skin substitutes.

“Current skin substitutes often lack vascularization and long-term stability,” the statement noted, adding that Singh is advancing “DEVA, a bio-printed, multilayered skin substitute with embedded vascular networks and antimicrobial properties, designed to jump-start the healing process and make chronic wounds that take months to heal a thing of the past.”

This year’s SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund program was strengthened by a $100,000 investment from the Griffiss Institute, enabling SUNY faculty, researchers and students to participate in technology development initiatives led by the U.S. Department of Defense under the SUNY Mission TAF designation.

“In addition to seed funding, SUNY Mission TAF recipients will receive guidance and support from the Griffiss Institute to help further commercialize their solutions, ensure they contribute to national security and bolster economic competitiveness,” the statement added.

Purwar, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stony Brook’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, was among four recipients of the SUNY Mission TAF award. His project, MotionGen — An AI Platform for Intelligent Mechanism Design in Robotics, focuses on automating and optimizing robotic design processes.

“Purwar is launching an enterprise version of MotionGen, a cloud-based AI platform that automates the robot mechanism design, reducing costs and improving quality through enhanced visualization and intelligent synthesis tools. MotionGen combines machine learning with domain-specific kinematics to rapidly generate, simulate and optimize mechanism designs,” the statement said.

SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund awards are determined through a highly competitive selection process that evaluates factors such as intellectual property protection, marketability, commercial potential, feasibility, and overall impact.

“Since the launch of TAF in 2011, SUNY has invested more than $4.7 million in the program to successfully advance the commercial readiness of 91 innovations born at SUNY campuses,” the statement noted. “The program has catalyzed follow-on investment of an additional $41 million from development partners, including government agencies, industry licensees and early-stage investors.”

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