New Watson College seed grants encourage interdisciplinary research

To support research that could lead to significant external funding, Binghamton University’s Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science has established a new program offering seed grants to faculty members working in key topic areas.

The Watson College Seed Grant Program for Major Research Proposal Development is designed as a catalyst for accelerating interdisciplinary research, addressing pressing scientific and technological challenges while demonstrating a path to major research funding from external sponsors.

Six projects will receive $160,000 in funding from the Watson Dean’s Office and the Research Foundation for SUNY at Binghamton University. The awardees align with Watson College’s four strategic research clusters: Energy, Climate and Sustainability (ECS); Healthcare and Biotechnologies (HBT); Intelligent and Secure Systems (ISS); and Microelectronics, Manufacturing and Materials (M3).

“This program reflects Watson College’s strategic approach to research growth — investing early in high-potential, interdisciplinary ideas that address complex global challenges,” Dean Atul Kelkar said. “Breakthrough solutions rarely emerge from a single discipline. By providing targeted seed funding within our research clusters, we are empowering faculty to form new collaborations, pursue bold ideas and position themselves for major external funding that can benefit society at large.”

A selection committee representing all five Watson schools and departments reviewed 15 proposals from across the college. The six awardees stood out for their intellectual merit, interdisciplinary scope, alignment with Watson’s strategic research priorities and potential for sustained impact.

“The high caliber of the proposals we received made the selection process incredibly competitive,” said Kartik Gopalan, Watson’s associate dean for research, corporate engagement and entrepreneurship. “We commend all the proposal teams, which represent the depth and breadth of research talent across Watson College and highlight the very best of our interdisciplinary spirit. We are confident that the six selected projects will serve as a vital bridge between bold, early-stage concepts and externally sponsored research activity.”

The six selected projects are:·

Establishing the Watson Quantum Hub: A World-First W-Triphoton Platform for Quantum Computing, Networking and
Sensing/Imaging, with Jianming Wen (Electrical and Computer Engineering) leading the project, and David Klotzkin (ECE), Vladimir Nikulin (ECE), Nitish Kumar Panigrahy (Computing), Ying Wang (Biomedical Engineering) and Yiming Zeng (Computing) as co-PIs. This project aims to accelerate quantum technologies that can enable more secure communication, faster computing and ultra-sensitive measurement by developing a world-first three-photon “W-state” light source, a special kind of entangled light that can be more resilient than traditional two-photon approaches.

From Brush to Brain: One-Step Brush Microprinting of AI-Integrated Multichannel Soft Neural Interfaces, with Siyuan Rao (BME) leading the project, and Qianbin Wang (BME), Wenfeng Zhao (ECE) and Jingzhou Zhao (Mechanical Engineering) as co-PIs. This project aims to establish a transformative brush-based microprinting platform for the rapid, one-step fabrication of AI-integrated, multichannel soft neural interfaces. By combining adaptive hydrogel materials, precision micro-brush printing and intelligent signal processing, the proposed approach addresses longstanding challenges in the scalable manufacturing and functional integration of soft bioelectronics for neural applications.

Multi-Modal Physical Authentication for Trustworthy Autonomous AI Agents, with Yu Chen (ECE) leading the project, and Stephanie Tulk Jesso (Systems Science and Industrial Engineering), Xiaohua Li (ECE), Yukui Luo (ECE) and Ping Yang (Computing) as co-PIs. This project will develop a novel framework that grounds AI agent identity verification in verifiable physical reality through environmental signals, including electric network frequency analysis, radio frequency fingerprinting, acoustic signatures and hardware-based physically unclonable functions.

Industry-informed Rapid Discovery of Reliable Solder Materials using AI-accelerated High-throughput Experimentation with Jingzhou Zhao (ME) leading the project, and Peter Borgesen (SSIE), Paul Chiarot (ME), Hyuna Kwon (ME) and Dehao Liu (ME) as co-PIs. This project aims to develop a mechanistically informed reliability digital twin for Sn-based, multi-component solder alloys that can predict the time to first failure in modern electronics containing hundreds of thousands to millions of solder joints.

Safe, Collaborative, and Resilient Embodied Intelligence with Shiqi Zhang (Computing) leading the project, and Jayson Boubin (Computing), Adnan Siraj Rakin (Computing), Seiichi Takamatsu (SSIE), Ping Yang (Computing) and Kaiyan Yu (ME) as co-PIs. This proposal aims to investigate the safety of collaborative human-robot teams and embodied AI security, as well as foster education and training centered on robotics and autonomous systems.

AI-Driven Automated Disassembly and Recycling System for End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Batteries with Xiaotu Ma (SSIE) leading the project and Anwar Elhadad (ECE) as co-PI. This project aims to develop a smart automated system that can safely identify, take apart and recycle end-of-life batteries with minimal human intervention. Instead of shredding batteries into mixed waste, the proposal focuses on recognizing batteries hidden in everyday products, carefully separating their components and recovering valuable materials for reuse.