The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation honored Mark Saffman and the team of Ophelia Venturelli, Philip Romero and Ryan Hsu with its 2019 Innovation Awards during the WARF Innovation Day held Tuesday at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

Saffman’s quantum computing technology improves an apparatus for particle trapping, which will reduce the cost and complexity of next-generation quantum computing devices.

Meanwhile, Venturelli, Romero and Hsu developed a microfluidic tool for mapping how bacteria interact in complex communities called microbiomes.

The awards come with a prize of $10,000. According to WARF, the winners were selected from six finalists and about 350 invention disclosures.