PITTSBURGH — Carnegie Mellon University says it will appeal a ruling by a federal judge that the school must pay an investor $5.7 million based on faulty research claims.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab on Wednesday found the school owes the money to Christian Bouriez, of London, and his company Montanelle Beheer.

Bouriez says he relied on CMU's claims that researchers had found a way to use microwaves to convert heavy hydrocarbons like pitch or paraffin wax into diesel fuel or other lighter hydrocarbons. Bouriez lost money when he invested in a company that was going to bring CMU's technology to market and claims he hired an expert who showed the technology never worked.

Spokeswoman Teresa Thomas says CMU officials "strenuously disagree" with the judge's ruling.