2025 IDEA Awards Winners Announced!
January 30, 2026
OIPC Celebrates A Decade of Innovation with FY2025's IDEA Awardees
The Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization (OIPC) is thrilled to announce the winners of the FY25 Innovative Disclosures and Entrepreneurial Activities (IDEA) Awards. Since 2015, these awards have recognized the visionary faculty, staff, and students at UAF and UAS who transform university research into real-world solutions. The success of these award winners highlights the caliber of research happening at our university. By bringing their ideas forward, these innovators help demonstrate that UAF is a premier destination for researchers and industry partners who want to see their work move from the lab into the world. Their achievements underscore our commitment to being a hub for creative thinking and practical solutions.
David Park, OIPC Director, emphasizes that these awards are a cornerstone of the university's mission to drive social and economic impact through research.
"The IDEA Awards recognize the awesome ideas of UAF faculty, staff, and students, who are helping to build the culture of innovation at the university," says David Park. "Their research and work are greatly appreciated."
Meet the FY25 Award Winners
Katey Walter Anthony and Melanie Engram of INE with "Remote Sensing and Mapping of Methane Seeps in Lakes" awarded the Alaska Impact Award for the best social impact disclosure.
The ASF Science Enabling Team with "OpenSARLab" awarded the Commercialization Award for the best overall disclosure.
Paul Bernhardt of the GI with "Space Debris and Radiation Removal" and "Insitu Passive Tracking and Detection of Space Debris Methodology" awarded the Inspiration Award for the best faculty disclosures.
Kyle Ketchell, Juliann Colwell, Ken MacPherson, Sam Delamere, Luke Blom, and Ryland Sacker of WATC with "Waveform Anomaly Reporting Platform" awarded the Creative Award for the best staff disclosure.
Cameron Westerlund of the GI with "Virtual Aurora Camera Model and Code" awarded the Tomorrow’s Innovator Award for the best grad or post grad disclosure.
Petie Deveer, Hailey Hodgins, and Adrian Burke of ACEP with "PULSEtastic" awarded the Nanook Award for the best undergrad disclosure.
The winners were determined through a rigorous selection process focused on five critical pillars of technology commercialization:
- Commercialization Readiness - Is it ready to license
- Impact - Will it make a difference (specifically for Alaska)
- Market Size - Does it have a potential to scale
- Team - Does the team have the capabilities and experience (technical and business competency)
- Intellectual Property - The strength of the IP relating to protection and the end-use
Join Us at Arctic Velocity: March 6th!
The Center for Innovation has invited the IDEA Awards winners to Arctic Velocity, their premier event dedicated to celebrating innovators and fostering new ideas within Alaska. During the post-lunch ceremony, the winners will speak briefly about their research and receive their award. We invite our university colleagues and industry partners to join the event's full suite of programming to celebrate these innovators and win some prizes of their own.
The short ceremony follows a collaborative Ideation Session focused on the burgeoning Mariculture industry in Alaska. "The Ideation session is an opportunity to explore the growing field of Mariculture," says organizer Megan Koch. "We encourage participation from all academic areas to create diverse, dynamic teams. Our IDEA Award winners will add to the conversation about innovating for a better Alaska."
Priority registration ends February 6th with student, staff, and faculty spots available for sign up here: Arctic Velocity. Winning participants are eligible for cash prizes and all inquiries should be directed to Megan Koch at makoch@alaska.edu.
Partner With Us: Bring Ideas to Life
At OIPC, we protect research and build long term value systems around it. Whether you are a researcher with a new system or process, or an industry leader looking for the next breakthrough, OIPC is your bridge between the lab and the marketplace.
Do you have an innovation to share? From software code to hardware improvements, we work across all disciplines to safeguard your research. Let’s collaborate to ensure your work reaches its full potential and makes a lasting difference in the community.
Submit a Disclosure: Disclosure Form
Contact the Team: uaf-oipc@alaska.edu
OIPC is here for you. Let’s innovate for Alaska’s future together.