Tech Launch Arizona Recognizes ECE Professor with Catapult Award

Jonathan Sprinkle, assistant professor in the electrical and computer engineering department and inventor of the cost-controlling thermostat, recently received the first-ever UA Catapult Award in Engineering.

Sprinkle was one of four faculty members who received a 2014 Catapult Award from Tech Launch Arizona, a UA organization that helps move inventions and intellectual property from the lab to the marketplace. The awards honored faculty who are bridging the gap between research and consumer needs.

With support from TLA, Sprinkle has filed invention disclosures on his closed-loop cost-controlling thermostat and created a startup company, Acomni LLC, to support the technology. The thermostat enables homeowners to decide temperatures based on their budgets.

Sprinkle also was recognized last year with a Career Award from the National Science Foundation for his research in cyberphysical systems.