Porras-Aguilar receives NCInnovation grant for 4D microscopy system

Rosario Porras-Aguilar, associate professor of physics and optical science, has been awarded a grant from NCInnovation to assist with bringing her research in advanced microscopy to commercial market. The grant, totaling nearly one million dollars, marks the sixth award at UNC Charlotte from NCInnovation, with four of the grants belonging to researchers in the Klein College of Science.

The new imaging techniques in the Porras-Aguilar lab are enabling faster, less expensive and more precise microscopic imaging for a variety of applications, including medical and pharmaceutical, life sciences and materials research. The tool being developed by the team in the Porras-Aguilar lab can turn a standard microscope into an advanced 4D imaging system that can capture a samples’ depth, movement and any structural changes in real time.

In 2021, Porras-Aguilar earned a National Science Foundation Career Award and was named a Cottrell Scholar by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. In 2023 she was elected a Senior Member of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and has also received numerous awards from SPIE for community outreach.