Lithium powers almost every personal electronic device that’s part of our daily lives. But though the element’s light weight and high conductivity put it in high demand for rechargeable batteries, extracting it is an environmentally devastating process that uses toxic chemicals and consumes disproportionate amounts of water, land and time.
Xitong Liu’s work could help change that. Liu, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering in the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science, is developing a chemical-free extraction process that efficiently harvests lithium from geothermal wastewater. In a growing market worth billions, his sustainable method could be a gamechanger.
The promise of his idea was evident Wednesday, when Liu’s team placed first in the physical sciences track at GW’s 2024 Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) Innovation Competition. The team won $10,000 to go toward creating more stable and long-lasting materials, manufacturing larger extraction cells and pilot testing on samples from California’s Salton Sea, the country’s largest source of geothermal brine.
“It's a great recognition for our work, and we thank the TCO office and our departments and the School of Engineering for the support,” Liu said. “This award will allow us to further our technology and to test the performance of our materials in a real environment. That is what we hope to achieve.”
Liu’s was one of six teams in two tracks—life science and physical sciences—to compete for a total of $35,000 in prizes before a panel of judges that included experienced entrepreneurs, investors and industry professionals. David Mendelowitz, interim chair and professor in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ Department of Pharmacology and Physiology with a secondary appointment as professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, placed first in the life sciences track for his work using the hormone oxytocin to reverse respiratory depression from opioids and other drugs of abuse.
The TCO competition is special because it “brings people that are involved in the science together with people that are involved in commercialization,” Mendelowitz said. “And obviously you need both to meet the needs of many, many people.”
“I'm excited to be here to celebrate the exceptional innovations of George Washington University's research inventors,” said keynote speaker Elizabeth Dougherty, Eastern regional outreach director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a board member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). “It's important to recognize and celebrate the dedication and ingenuity of your faculty and researchers as they continue to shape the future through their discoveries and inventions.”
Dougherty called back to the invention of the modern laminar-flow cleanroom by GW alumnus Willis Whitfield, a National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee, and pointed to GW’s place on the NAI’s list of the U.S.’s 100 top patent-producing universities as evidence of an institutional commitment to innovation.
The event also served as an induction ceremony for 23 new inventor members and seven new honorary members of GW’s NAI chapter, founded last year. Rounding up news from the year, the chapter also announced that Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Charles Garris of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences was named a 2023 NAI fellow in December. Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology Narine Sarvazyan of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Lijie Grace Zhang of GW Engineering were named GW’s first NAI senior members.
Garris, whose pioneering work in sustainable energy includes a novel energy-efficient pressure-exchange ejector with applications that include refrigeration and heating, is the ninth NAI Fellow to be inducted while a faculty member or administrator at GW. Others include current faculty members Robert H. Miller, Akos Vertes, Mona Zaghloul and Michael Keidar.
Founded in 2010, NAI is dedicated to fostering cultures of innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship within and between academic institutions. Inventor members have either more than one GW-owned issued U.S. patent or a patent licensed by GW.
Between developing new faces in tech commercialization and honoring established inventors, the event showcased GW’s continuing dedication to innovation and to developing research with real-world impact, TCO Executive Director Brian Coblitz said.
“This event marks a celebration of ingenuity, collaboration and the relentless pursuit of impact on society. Our goal is to help bring technology from the lab to the world, and we do that by bringing together groups like we have today with inventors, entrepreneurs and investors.”
