CDME & Zheng: Collaboration Supports Commercialization of Winner's Invention

Yuan Zheng Receives 2016 Innovator of the Year Award

Product Development and commercialization support through OSU's CDME

CDME is celebrating the most recent award given to Yuan Zheng, recipient of The Ohio State University’s 2016 Innovator of the Year Award and one of CDME’s essential faculty affiliates. Yuan Zheng was recently recognized at the 2016 State of Research Address, delivered by Dr. Caroline Whitacre, senior vice president for research. Zheng is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at The Ohio State University and has been a pioneer for innovations in robotics research for the past 35 years.

In 2014, Dr. Zheng developed the Circular Wave Drive (CWD), a compact and co-axial gear head that allows for speed reductions in rotational motions of industrial and humanoid robotics. The CWD features a compact, lightweight and durable gear system, which translates to improved torque performance, longer product life and lower cost compared to Harmonic Drives and RV drives.

IKOVE, a local venture capital company, licensed his technology from the university in 2015 and founded a start-up company called CWD LLC.  In support of Dr. Zheng’s commercialization efforts, CDME helped develop and execute on two state commercialization grants. These included a $50,000 Technology Validation Start-up Fund (TVSF) grant and a $690,000 Edison Advanced Manufacturing Program (AMP) grant.  Nate Ames, Engineering Manager and Associate Director of CDME, and his team helped Zheng prototype his design while an undergraduate student working within CDME focused on invention improvements, earning them patent rights and a royalty check.

CDME’s primary goals for Zheng’s CWD gearing system were to optimize the design and make it manufacture ready when introduced to Ohio manufacturers. In addition to this work and securing the grants, CDME supported Zheng’s innovation by finding local industry partners who helped realize a viable, needed product. CDME is thrilled to collaborate with research faculty associates like Yuan Zheng who enable us to capitalize on our strengths, utilize our resources and support local manufacturing. The continued collaboration of the exceptional talent within the College of Engineering and CDME is vital for creating and introducing novel, advanced manufacturing to industry in the state of Ohio. On behalf of CDME, we congratulate Yuan Zheng and thank him for his contributions to robotics, research and manufacturing.

CWD Technical Brief  |   CDME Overview