Iowa State University researchers will use $1 million in state economic development funds to research and develop new technologies that could lead to new or expanded companies in the state.

Ten separate ISU research teams received grants ranging from approximately $19,000 to $150,000 to further research to make more efficient vaccines, study ways to boost ethanol production, commercialize three-dimensional software for training surgeons and develop other projects with commercial potential.

The state provided the funds to ISU from the Grow Iowa Values Fund program, as part of a 2005 commitment to appropriate $5 million per year for 10 years to support research projects at Iowa’s Regent universities. It’s the third round of grants made by ISU from Values Fund money, which the university must match by funding researcher salaries. The research teams are also required to partner with companies that provide matching cash or in-kind support.

“This state funding is helping to move Iowa State University research from the laboratory into the marketplace,” said John Brighton, ISU’s vice president for research and economic development. In addition to assisting researchers in establishing start-up companies, the funds are also helping the university make progress toward its goal of encouraging its researchers to be entrepreneurs, Brighton said.

The largest grant in this round, $150,444, goes to a research team that is working to develop a single-dose vaccine against pneumonic plague, an infectious agent that could potentially be used as a bioterrorism weapon. For a link to a listing of all the research grants, click here.