September 2, 2026 - Portland News

Portland State University Research Grant Targets Startups

Portland News Staff 2 on September 2, 2026

Portland State University has secured a three-year, $5.9 million National Science Foundation grant to turn more academic research into products, startups and industry partnerships. The award, PSU’s largest NSF grant to date, will support commercialization work across AI, semiconductors, transportation and infrastructure while expanding the university’s links with Oregon’s innovation economy.

Key Takeaways

Portland State University received $5,973,981 through the National Science Foundation’s Accelerating Research Translation program.
The three-year award is the largest NSF grant in PSU’s history.
Funding will support seed projects, entrepreneurship training, commercialization infrastructure and connections with industry.
Research areas include artificial intelligence, computational intelligence, semiconductors, transportation and infrastructure.
Oregon State University will serve as PSU’s mentor institution for the NSF-funded initiative.

Portland State Secures Its Largest NSF Grant

Portland State University received nearly $6 million from the National Science Foundation to strengthen the process of moving university research into practical applications, commercial products and new businesses.

The $5,973,981 award comes through NSF’s Accelerating Research Translation program, which helps universities build infrastructure for research translation and technology transfer. The grant will run for three years and is the largest NSF award Portland State has received.

The Portland State University research grant arrives as the university reports increased research activity. PSU said its research expenditures rose from $74 million in fiscal year 2024 to $91 million in 2025.

The university sees commercialization as one way to connect that growing research portfolio with Oregon companies, investors and entrepreneurs.

“Our researchers are producing discoveries with real commercial and civic value,” PSU President Ann Cudd said when the award was announced.

The Grant Focuses on Moving Research Into Practice

The NSF funding is intended to address the gap between conducting research and moving promising discoveries into practical use.

That process can include licensing university technology, creating products, launching startups and developing partnerships with established companies. NSF’s Accelerating Research Translation program also takes a broader view of research translation that includes building long-term institutional capacity, training researchers and strengthening regional innovation networks.

PSU will organize its effort around three strategies called Cultivate, Elevate and Accelerate.

Cultivate will focus on strengthening the university’s culture around translational research. Plans include a network of faculty ART Ambassadors and changes intended to recognize applied and translational work within university systems.

Elevate will support promising discoveries through internal seed funding, expanded evaluation resources and training for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

Accelerate will focus on moving projects and startups closer to customers, investment and commercial partnerships through business coaching and connections with Portland’s broader entrepreneurship network.

Propel PSU Will Anchor the Commercialization Effort

Portland State University will carry out much of the new work through Propel PSU, the university division that brings together innovation, entrepreneurship and technology commercialization programs.

Propel PSU includes the Portland State Business Accelerator, the Oregon AI Accelerator, the university’s Innovation and Intellectual Property office, the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub.

Bringing those programs together gives researchers multiple routes for developing projects beyond the academic setting. A discovery could move toward licensing, become the basis of a new company or be developed with an existing industry partner.

The startup component also connects with broader pre-seed startup opportunities available to entrepreneurs building early-stage companies in the Portland area.

Rather than creating a separate commercialization system solely for the grant, PSU is using the NSF funding to expand infrastructure it has already assembled.

Seed Projects Put the Grant Into Concrete Terms

Portland State University has identified three initial projects that illustrate the type of research the new funding could help move toward wider use.

One project involves a resource-efficient single-photon LiDAR system designed for robotics and mobile applications. LiDAR technology uses light to measure distance and create information about surrounding environments.

Another project involves a non-invasive wearable glucose sensor being validated with Oregon Health & Science University and an industry partner.

A third project centers on a handheld satellite ground station connected with PSU’s OreSat satellite program. The university has identified both commercial and STEM education applications for the technology.

The projects give the research commercialization initiative concrete starting points while demonstrating that the grant will span more than one industry.

AI and Semiconductor Research Form Part of the Pipeline

Artificial intelligence and computational intelligence are among the research areas PSU has identified for commercialization support.

Those fields sit alongside semiconductor research, another area with significant activity across Oregon. PSU is also participating in other federally backed semiconductor initiatives, including an NSF Regional Innovation Engine led by Oregon State University.

The technology environment extends beyond university research. Portland-based companies are also attracting investment around related fields, including a recent Portland cybersecurity funding round involving hardware and artificial intelligence security.

The NSF grant itself is not limited to technology products. Transportation and infrastructure research are also included, giving the commercialization program potential applications across computing, electronics and physical systems.

Industry Connections Are Central to the Strategy

Portland State University’s plan depends in part on stronger connections between researchers and organizations outside the university.

Companies can provide researchers with insight into market needs, technical requirements and potential applications. Entrepreneurs can help turn intellectual property or research findings into new ventures.

The grant will also provide business coaching and pathways to investors, industry partners and other regional organizations that work with early-stage ventures.

This structure makes commercialization less dependent on individual researchers navigating the business development process on their own. Instead, PSU is building a system intended to connect research projects with expertise in intellectual property, entrepreneurship, investment and industry engagement.

Oregon State University will serve as PSU’s mentor institution under the NSF program. OSU has an established research commercialization operation and will provide institutional guidance as PSU expands its own capacity.

The Award Links Research Growth With Regional Development

The grant comes as PSU is placing greater emphasis on the connection between university research and Portland’s economy.

Portland State University Research Grant Targets Startups

Photo Credit: Unsplash.com

Research commercialization can create several types of outcomes. Some discoveries may become products or licensed technologies. Others may support startups or lead to collaborations with existing companies.

The university’s challenge will be determining which research projects have viable pathways outside academia and then providing enough technical and business support to move those projects forward.

The NSF award gives Portland State three years of dedicated federal funding to build that system. It also provides a measurable framework for evaluating whether stronger commercialization infrastructure can produce more research partnerships, licenses, products and university-linked companies.

The Three-Year Test for PSU’s Commercialization Push

The Portland State University research grant represents more than funding for individual research projects. Its central purpose is to strengthen the university’s capacity to identify promising discoveries and move them toward practical use.

PSU will begin with defined projects, expanded seed funding, researcher training and closer ties to entrepreneurs and industry. The results over the next three years will show how effectively those resources translate growing university research activity into products, partnerships, licenses and new ventures across Portland and Oregon.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much did Portland State University receive from the NSF?

Portland State University received $5,973,981 through the National Science Foundation’s Accelerating Research Translation program. The three-year award is the largest NSF grant in the university’s history.

What will the Portland State University research grant fund?

The Portland State University research grant will support research translation, commercialization infrastructure, seed projects, researcher training and connections with companies, entrepreneurs and investors. The goal is to help promising academic research move toward practical applications, products, licenses, startups and partnerships.

Which research areas are covered by the grant?

PSU has identified artificial intelligence, computational intelligence, semiconductors, transportation and infrastructure among the research areas with commercialization potential. Initial projects include LiDAR technology, a wearable glucose sensor and a handheld satellite ground station.

How will PSU help researchers commercialize their work?

PSU plans to use seed funding, project evaluation, entrepreneurship training, business coaching and connections with industry and investors. The work will largely build on programs housed within Propel PSU.

What role will Oregon State University play?

Oregon State University will serve as Portland State University’s mentor institution under the NSF program. Its role will support PSU as the university expands its research translation and commercialization capacity.

From Fortune 500 Executive to Recovery Architect: Nir Peled’s Systems Approach to Resilience in “Beyond 100%”

Portland News Staff on September 2, 2026

By: Sara Wolfe

Nir Peled does not talk about resilience like a motivational speaker. He talks about it like someone diagnosing a broken system under pressure. That perspective comes from a life spent in high-stakes environments: as an officer in an elite IDF unit, as a Fortune 500 technology executive, and later as a stroke survivor rebuilding the most personal system of all. His book,Beyond 100%: Rebuilding Life After It Breaks, translates that experience into a practical framework for people and organizations navigating disruption.

Peled’s authority is not academic. It is lived. He has survived seven catastrophic events: a bombing in Sinai, anaphylaxis, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a violent kidnapping and robbery in the Amazon, cancer, a motorcycle accident, and a stroke at 49. Each event presented a different kind of collapse. The stroke, however, transformed his private survival strategy into a structured model.

“In tech leadership, you are constantly dealing with systems that break and need to be rebuilt under pressure with incomplete information,” Peled says. “Managing uncertainty, moving forward without knowing exactly where you’re going. Recovery is the same environment. The difference is that in the corporate world the system that breaks is external. In recovery, it’s you.”

That sentence explains why Beyond 100% feels different from many adversity narratives. Peled isn’t just telling readers that he survived. He is showing how he approached the rebuilding. He broke the problem into parts, measured small gains, and used structure to manage chaos. “The thinking I applied, breaking the problem down, measuring small progress, using structure to manage chaos- that’s what became the framework,” he says.

The framework is built around three pillars: Body, Mind, and Spirit. It also includes seven recovery rules, the principle of surrender, four stages of rebuilding, and a recovery blueprint for how capabilities return. Peled maps that return through four phases: manifestation, sign of life, practice, and complex integration. The language may sound systematic because it is. He designed it the way an engineer would design a repeatable process.

“I developed it the way an engineer approaches a problem,” he says. “I looked at what was actually working across my recoveries, mapped the patterns, and built a repeatable process out of them.”

The first pattern was the 1% Rule. “On any given day, you don’t need to be dramatically better than yesterday,” Peled says. “You need to be 1% better. That’s it.” In a corporate environment, that might sound like incremental improvement. In stroke recovery, it becomes a survival strategy. A small gain can be a movement, a word, a minute of breathing, a laugh, or even rest. Progress becomes measurable without becoming punishing.

Peled is especially interested in people who were once known as the strong ones: the achievers, leaders, caregivers, executives, and problem-solvers who suddenly find themselves on the receiving end of crisis. “My primary audience is people in their 30s to 60s who were the strong ones, the achievers, the people everyone else leaned on, who suddenly find themselves unable to recognize their own life,” he says. “They don’t want pity, and they don’t want vague inspiration. They want a plan.”

That plan matters beyond medical recovery. Organizations also break. Careers break. Families absorb shocks. Leaders burn out. Teams face crises with incomplete information and no ensured outcome. Peled’s framework is used by individuals and organizations because the underlying challenge is similar: something that once worked no longer does, and the next version must be built while the damage is still being felt.

The phrase Beyond 100% captures that philosophy, but Peled resists any easy interpretation. “I’ll never be the same Nir, the same ‘100%’ as I was, not physically or mentally,” he says. He is not claiming trauma made him better. He is saying that rebuilding can create access to parts of the self that were unreachable before. The goal is not restoration. It is redesign.

The book began as a recovery journal. Peled recorded videos of himself learning to speak again, then typed as his abilities returned. Over time, he realized he was not only documenting recovery. He was developing the guide he wished had existed when his world broke.

“I am a practical man,” he says. “I like motivation and inspiring stories, but I need something tangible. Something I can use tomorrow morning.” That practicality bridges his executive background and recovery work, and gives the book relevance for readers facing crisis in any form.

Today, Peled teaches yoga and meditation to stroke and brain injury survivors in Northern California. He is still practicing what he teaches: rebuilding through structure, surrender, small steps, and purpose. His central lesson is not that broken systems return to what they were. It is that they can be rebuilt smarter, stronger, and more honestly than before.

Beyond 100%: Rebuilding Life After It Breaks is now available on Amazon,