Morgan State University (MSU) received three United States patents awarded in the spring and summer of 2020 for inventions conceived by teams that include Morgan faculty, university officials said Friday.
The innovations, an unprecedented number for the university in a single year, are representative of the university’s commitment to evidence-based research designed to meet the needs and challenges of diverse stakeholder communities.
The university’s roster of patent-holding technologies bridge advancements in critical science, technology, engineering and math-related fields including alternative energy, aquaculture, environmental remediation, and military and cellphone communications.
The recent awards bring to seven the total number of U.S. patents awarded to MSU, all since the university established its Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) in 2016. Last year, Morgan filed a record 20 new U.S. patent applications. Currently there are 26 U.S. utility patents pending in Morgan’s growing portfolio. In 2018, a report by an independent consultant revealed that Morgan generated significantly more patents and other key innovation outputs and outcomes per research dollar than the state and national averages for research universities.
The three patents awarded thus far this year include:
Statistics verify the “boom” May mentioned. Innovations from Morgan researchers are pouring into the university’s OTT at a record rate of one every 13½ days, up from one every 15 days in 2019, and Morgan’s Division of Research and Economic Development (D-RED) anticipates rising numbers of patents awarded over the next three to four years.
OTT serves as a fully integrated center to manage the university’s intellectual property; works with faculty and staff to fulfill the university’s federal obligations with respect to transferring technologies; and interacts with industry to commercialize university intellectual property, foster economic development and ultimately increase the university’s resources to support its strategic goals.
Morgan has a track record of excellence in the humanities and liberal arts that dates back a century, and the university is gaining wider recognition now for its mounting research achievements in STEM and other fields. The Maryland General Assembly designated Morgan as the state’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University in May 2017. In December 2018, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education elevated Morgan to an R2 classification, a status reserved for doctoral universities with high research activity.