Princeton University Receives $10 Million to Support 'Tinkerers'

Princeton University has announced a $10 million gift from longtime supporter Lynn Shostack to endow its Project X fund, which supports innovative projects in engineering.

Launched as a two-year pilot program, the fund provides small grants to engineers who wish to pursue projects outside their formal area of expertise or are too speculative to attract conventional funding. To date, the fund has supported research ranging from an exploration of techniques to sterilize hospital rooms to the development of an idea for playing highly realistic three-dimensional sound from conventional speakers.