ORONO (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Five University of Maine innovations were showcased Wednesday night in Orono.
The innovations were created by students and professors at UMaine to benefit the state.
"We've been looking for things that have high potential for impact and growth," said Renee Kelly, assistant VP for innovation and economic development. "Particularly ones that will have a potential for impact in the state of Maine so that we can help improve the economy of Maine."
The projects are all very different but were chosen to benefit the state.
All of the teams went through weeks of training to get ready for the future of their projects, both from the science and business standpoint.
One of these projects monitors the health of beehives, another already works with a Maine paper company, and one detects loss of nerve that could help more than 30 million people suffering from more than 30 medical conditions.
"It's also very common in chemotherapy and with HIV and aging," said neurobiology professor Kristy Townsend. "So it's a very common disease in Maine because it's a very elderly population and we have high rates of diabetes."
All five of the projects presented have plans to make their projects a reality by partnering with a company here in Maine or starting their own business.
