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A group of "angel" investors will meet with UA researchers at the first Southwest Angel Summit today and Tuesday, coinciding with the university's Innovation Day on March 25.

The group of more than 20 investors, who invest personal money in start-up ventures, will meet informally with faculty and student researchers and participate in Innovation Day events, organizers said.

Bob Morrison, executive director of the Desert Angels, said investors from California, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona will "come together and discuss regional priorities and opportunities for collaboration."

The event was organized by the Desert Angels and the Eller College of Management's McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship.

The investors will evaluate the student ventures showcased at the Innovation Day show on Tuesday, and invite selected teams to make formal presentations.

Local investors have recently sought to increase their ties with the UA and offer capital to research they believe has market value. One new group, Desert Tech Investors LLC, had its kickoff meeting in October and has said it would invest $400,000 in research on university innovations with "high commercial potential."

One piece of UA research aims to slash testing time for dangerous E. coli bacteria. Commercializing that research is the aim of a group known as Innovis Technologies, the brainchild of UA students and researchers.

"It's especially exciting to connect these high-level investors to innovating faculty researchers at the UA," said Sherry Hoskinson, director of the McGuire Center, in a statement. "But we are also pleased that they will be reviewing our entrepreneurship students' ventures."

Innovation Day organizers will award $10,000 to faculty members who "excel in technology transfer and the application of their research into marketable products." Another award of $1,000 will be given to a student who contributes to new or existing technology that shows commercial promise.