Harry Giles, professor of practice in architecture, was awarded $200,000 from the University and Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University for leading a collaborative team of researchers from UM that includes: Taubman College associate professor Moji Navvab; College of Engineering associate professor of materials science Max Shtein; College of Engineering assistant professor, of electrical engineering Pei-Cheng Ku; and four faculty and two doctoral student researchers based at SJTU in China. The team worked toward developing and manufacturing a net zero energy efficient prototype façade for buildings. With the help of high-tech sensors, the concept aims to integrate the capture of solar energy, transmit light and thermally insulate buildings. Giles’ team, along with five other winners, was selected from 39 proposals–20 in the biomedical-technology category and 19 for renewable energy projects. The funding is intended to seed initial research and product commercialization by stimulating further funding from federal agencies and forge collaborative industry partnerships through technology transfer.