Engineering faculty earn big awards at annual NUtech Ventures awards event

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Shane Farritor (center), professor of mechanical and materials engineering and chief technical officer of Virtual Incision, receives the Prem S. Paul Innovator of the Year Award from Brad Roth (left), NUtech Ventures executive director, and Bob Wilhelm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice chancellor of research and economic development.
Shane Farritor (center), professor of mechanical and materials engineering and chief technical officer of Virtual Incision, receives the Prem S. Paul Innovator of the Year Award from Brad Roth (left), NUtech Ventures executive director, and Bob Wilhelm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice chancellor of research and economic development.

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College of Engineering faculty earned two of the five major awards presented Nov. 4 at the annual NUtech Ventures Innovator Celebration.

The event recognizes University of Nebraska-Lincoln innovators and partner companies and honors the university’s faculty, staff, students and companies that have worked with NUtechVentures.

The Prem S. Paul Innovator of the Year award went to Shane Farritor, chief technical officer of Virtual Incision and Lederer Professor of mechanical and materials engineering. The award recognizes an individual who exemplifies innovation and entrepreneurship by advancing novel research into significant commercial use.

Farritor is a co-founder of Virtual Incision, a university spin-off company developing miniaturized robots for general surgery abdominal procedures, such as colon resections. The company has more than 140 issued patents and patent applications, and has raised millions of dollars to advance its technology.

The Startup Company of the Year award went to Drone Amplified, headed by co-founder Carrick Detweiler, Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professor of computer science and engineering.

The company’s drone-mounted technology uses spheres the size of ping-pong balls that ignite prescribed burns and backfires, starving incoming wildfires of potential fuel. It also provides a safer alternative for crews who would otherwise fight wildfires by aircraft or vehicle.

NUtech Ventures is a nonprofit affiliate of the university, working to commercialize intellectual property developed through Nebraska research activities with the goals of promoting economic development and improving the quality of life.

  • Shane Farritor (center), professor of mechanical and materials engineering and chief technical officer of Virtual Incision, receives the Prem S. Paul Innovator of the Year Award from Brad Roth (left), NUtech Ventures executive director, and Bob Wilhelm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice chancellor of research and economic development.
    Shane Farritor (center), professor of mechanical and materials engineering and chief technical officer of Virtual Incision, receives the Prem S. Paul Innovator of the Year Award from Brad Roth (left), NUtech Ventures executive director, and Bob Wilhelm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice chancellor of research and economic development.
  • Carrick Detweiler (center), associate professor of computer science and engineering and co-founder of Drone Amplified, receives the Startup Company of the Year Award from Brad Roth (left), NUtech Ventures executive director, and Bob Wilhelm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice chancellor of research and economic development.
    Carrick Detweiler (center), associate professor of computer science and engineering and co-founder of Drone Amplified, receives the Startup Company of the Year Award from Brad Roth (left), NUtech Ventures executive director, and Bob Wilhelm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln vice chancellor of research and economic development.



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