Interdisciplinary highlights
“The University of Minnesota is a national leader in interdisciplinary collaboration. Our teams are working across fields to generate new frontiers of knowledge, spark new innovations and discoveries, and find solutions that drive the health and prosperity of our society. The greatest challenges impacting our people and our communities can only be solved by working differently — by working across traditional academic siloes. This is where the University of Minnesota truly excels.” – President Rebecca Cunningham
Niron Magnetics
UMN electrical and computer engineering professor Jian-Ping Wang and his colleagues spent a decade solving a thorny material sciences challenge. The product was a form of iron nitride with the magnetic qualities needed by industry without the need for rare earth elements, which are costly and environmentally damaging to extract and are primarily sourced from China. Niron has attracted significant public and private investment, opened a pilot plant in Northeast Minneapolis in October 2024, and is building a full-scale facility near St. Cloud, Minnesota slated to employ 175 Minnesotans.
Vocxi Health
VocXi Health is developing a noninvasive breath sensor to detect lung cancer. The technology was developed in part at the University of Minnesota Earl E. Bakken Medical Device Center utilizing a crossdisciplinary team to develop a nanosensor sensitive enough for this purpose. The device is now in clinical trials in the United States.
Related stories
UMN earns top spot in global Interdisciplinary Science Rankings
The need for creative, interdisciplinary solutions has become increasingly important as society’s problems in the 21st century become more complex and urgent. With multiple centers, institutes, and academic programs that incentivize researchers, students, and industry partners to work together across fields of study, the University of Minnesota is recognized as the leading public university for interdisciplinary research in the nation. Read more.
New product development course is a “win-win”
Guided by ETHICON R&D staff, a team of top UMN students from the College of Science and Engineering, the Carlson School of Management, and the College of Design worked for nine months on the development of a new device for treating a circulatory system disorder. Read more.
80 years of the Hormel Institute: from food R&D to innovative cancer research
Many are familiar with Hormel Foods, a food processing company most famously known for producing Spam. Lesser known is The Hormel Institute, the nearby state-of-the-art biomedical research facility that recently celebrated 80 years of research. Read more.
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Leza Besemann
Associate Director
[email protected]
612-625-8615