Innovation Hub entrepreneurs earn top honors at Texas Tech’s Inventor Celebration.
The spirit of innovation was on full display at this year’s Texas Tech University System Inventor Celebration, where several members of the Innovation Hub community were recognized for their extraordinary contributions to research, commercialization, and entrepreneurship.
Hosted by the Office of Research Commercialization, the event celebrated 13 inventors who received patent plaques, honored members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and recognized faculty and startup founders for their groundbreaking work transforming Texas Tech research into real-world impact.
Among the honorees were three innovators with deep ties to the Innovation Hub, Dr. Paul Egan, Dr. Alan Pang, and Dr. Bryan Sutton, whose research and entrepreneurial leadership continue to shape the region’s growing innovation ecosystem.
Dr. Paul Egan: Engineering Innovation into Impact
Named Texas Tech University’s 2025 Emerging Inventor of the Year, Dr. Paul Egan, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the M3D Design Lab, embodies the Innovation Hub’s mission to turn bold ideas into businesses.
As a Faculty Ambassador and Accelerator Program founder, Dr. Egan has launched multiple ventures from the Hub, including PillMed Pro, a health technology startup improving patient medication adherence, and microMed, which develops micro-scale medical devices designed to enhance surgical precision and patient recovery.
Dr. Egan’s recognition as an Emerging Inventor highlights the Hub’s commitment to empowering innovators with the resources, mentorship, and commercialization pathways needed to bring new technologies to market.
Dr. Alan Pang: Merging Medicine and Machine Learning
At the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Dr. Alan Pang was also honored as the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s 2025 Emerging Inventor of the Year, recognizing his groundbreaking work at the intersection of medicine and machine learning.
A burn, wound, trauma, and critical care surgeon, Dr. Pang co-founded AIKO Healthcare Solutions, a Texas Tech Accelerator startup that uses artificial intelligence to help clinicians predict hospital length of stay and patient outcomes more accurately. His company emerged from the Hub’s 2024–2025 Accelerator Program, where he collaborated with mentors and experts to move his idea from prototype to commercial viability.
“I stand on the shoulders of those in the innovation and surgical community who came before me,” said Dr. Pang. “This recognition represents all those in my corner who made it possible to create something worth recognizing.”
Dr. Pang’s journey reflects the growing collaboration between TTU and TTUHSC innovators through programs like the One Health Incubator and Texas Tech Accelerator, where research meets entrepreneurship to create technologies that improve health outcomes across communities.
Dr. Bryan Sutton: Endless Possibilities
Rounding out the Hub’s representation at the Inventor Celebration, Dr. Bryan Sutton, Professor of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics at TTUHSC and current Accelerator participant, was recognized for receiving his first U.S. patent plaque.
Dr. Sutton’s technology, developed through his research at the Health Sciences Center, lays the groundwork for future commercialization in biomedical innovation. His participation in the 2025 Accelerator Cohort underscores his commitment to translating academic discovery into tangible products that advance healthcare and biotechnology.
Fostering a Culture of Innovation
From emerging inventors to established startups, the 2025 Inventor Celebration showcased the Innovation Hub’s role as a launchpad for entrepreneurship across the Texas Tech University System. Whether supporting a first-time patent recipient or an established founder expanding their portfolio, the Hub continues to provide the programs, mentorship, and ecosystem that make innovation thrive.
As the applause settled at the celebration, one message was clear: at Texas Tech, innovation doesn’t stop at discovery…it starts there.