After closely studying a specific group of bacteria for more than 30 years, University of Wisconsin food science professor James Steele never thought he’d be doing anything other than scientific research. But now, less than a year away from retirement, he’s playing a new role as a business owner with a new research patent from Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation that was developed from his studies.

Materials science and engineering student Amy Lossen works in the two-years-young lab of UW engineer Dr. Adrien Couet, who is developing methods for testing materials most sustainable for constructing a new generation of cost-efficient, long-lasting nuclear reactors.

For the first time, WERCBench Labs held a competition at the end of its accelerator, dubbed “Demo Day.” The grand prize of $10,000 was awarded to Madison-based NovoMoto. East Lansing, Michigan-based Switched Source and Chicago-based ARIS Technology tied for runner-up, and each received a $5,000 prize.