News and Events > Newsletters > Monthly Newsletter: September 2004
University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office
Monthly Newsletter
Volume 1 ~ Issue 2 ~ September 2004
Top Story
CU Civil Engineering Center is Prolific Software Developer
RiverWareT is a reservoir and river modeling software decision support tool, developed at the Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CU-CADSWES), College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder. Water management professionals improve their management of river and reservoir systems by using the software. (more)
Today at the TTO
Colorado Technology Commercialization Partnership Wraps Up Second Summer
The TTO concluded its second summer of the successful Colorado Technology Commercialization Partnership (CTCP) program. The program, funded in part by the Robert H. and Beverly A. Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at UCB, and the Colorado Institute of Technology (CIT), is designed to expedite the process of technology commercialization by forming teams to examine CU inventions. The teams were lead by student interns and TTO staff and engaged volunteer advisors from the Front-Range professional business community. These advisors included prominent IP attorneys, venture capitalists, seasoned business professionals, and technology domain experts. (more)
TTO's Proof of Concept Program (POC) Closes First Application Round
The TTO's newly launched POC program closed its first round of applications on August 31. Fifteen applicants submitted proposals with 9 specifying primary applications in life sciences and the balance coming from the physical sciences and software. Teams of investigators who have combined their talents in cross-disciplinary sciences, representing a combination of life science and physical science expertise, submitted several of the technologies. The Proof of Concept (POC) program makes seed investments ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 in start-up companies based on promising CU technologies. (more)
University of Colorado Created Drugs In Human Trials
The TTO's tracking of drugs in any stage of human trials will be a quarterly updated information service to our community. Currently, one drug is actively marketed and 11 are in one of the three phases of FDA regulated human trial. For the list of drugs in trials see our clinical trials chart.
CU Appoints New Technology Transfer Director for UCCS
Ken Porter has been named Director for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs technology transfer office, according to David Allen, Associate Vice President for Technology Transfer. CUxs technology transfer office (TTO) is responsible for overseeing all discovery oriented intellectual property and technology licensing activities within the four-campus system. (more)
TTO Business Advisory Board Composition Revised
The TTO Business Advisory Board meets at least three times a year. This group provides valuable oversight and acts as a sounding board services for TTO initiatives. The group evaluates nominees for the annual TTO awards. In order to maintain fresh perspectives, about one third of the Board's membership turned over in the past few months.
TTO in the News
Colorado BioScience Cluster State Plan Update Released
In March 2003 a strategic plan for the Colorado bioscience industry was prepared titled Colorado's Place in the Sun: A Bioscience Future, An Action Plan to Grow Colorado's Bioscience Cluster. Over the past few months the plan has been reviewed and assessed for progress on key initiatives. The University of Colorado features prominently in the plan. In particular, developments in technology transfer are chronicled. The plan can be accessed at http://www.state.co.us/oed/bus_fin/pdf/BioPlan2004.pdf
Spotlight On:
| CU's Technology of the Month |
CU's Company of the Month |
| CU1141C - A High Frequency Tunable Band Pass Filter Based on Thin Magnetic Films |
CDM Optics |
| Dr. Zbignew Celinski and Dr. Robert Camley at UCCS have produced and tested a prototype micro-scale band pass filter using magnetic materials. This technology can be used in high frequency wireless applications to allow only certain frequencies to pass through and blocks signals at unwanted frequencies nearby. The filtering region can be tuned over a wide range of frequencies (1 GHz to 40 GHz) by an external magnetic field and by choice of magnetic materials. The construction method allows this filter to be part of a micro-scale, high-frequency electronic system (semiconductor integrated circuit / filter) which should allow for mass production and use in small telecommunication devices. |
CDM Optics was founded in 1996 by a CU-Boulder research team to commercialize the Wavefront CodingT technology. An innovative combination of optical and electronic processing, WaveFront CodingT produces depth-of-field clarity not previously possible, while enabling smaller and lighter devices. The processing innovation corrects the distortions produced by inexpensive materials, allowing optical plastics to substitute for glass; and its digital-electronic corrections replace conventional complex electronics and machine solutions. To see Wavefront CodingT images and learn how it works, visit http://www.cdm-optics.com/site/ |
Search our database for licenseable CU Technologies
Technology Transfer Bulletin of the Month
Laboratory Notebooks
Laboratory notebooks serve an essential purpose beyond just good organization and record keeping. They are also used for proving inventor status on an application and defending an issued patent. Laboratory notebooks provide evidence in defense of challenges infringers make to an issued patent. Though patent infringement litigation rarely occurs, the more valuable an invention, the more likely it will be contested. |
Upcoming Events
TTO Legal Seminar: "The Patenting of Bioinformatics Technologies," August 27, 2004
The CU Technology Transfer Office and the law offices of Quine Intellectual Property Law Group present the TTO Legal Seminar: "The Patenting of Bioinformatics Technologies" with Chris Sappenfield of Quine Intellectual Property Law Group.
Biowest 2004
BioWest 2004 - October 26-27 at the Doubletree Stapleton - Sponsored by the State of Colorado, the Colorado Bioscience Association, and the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, this second annual life sciences industry networking event is drawing regional, national and international interest. The afternoon of October 26 will feature a university start-up poster session and a talk by Dr. Doros Platika of Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse on "Maximizing Incentives and Mechanisms - Strengthening the Link Between Research, Technology and Commercialization." For complete schedule and registration detail, go to http://www.biowestconference.com/index.html.
Save the Date: TTO Third Annual Awards Dinner
The CU Technology Transfer Office is gearing up for its Second Annual Technology Transfer Events on Monday, November 8, 2004. Information surrounding the event can be found on our website. (more)
Innovation in the News
A New Phase in Clinical Trials Reporting
Physicians and patients have long criticized pharmaceuticals companies' tendency to hide negative drug trial results, but until recently, the critiques lacked force. Actions for change have coalesced since June, when the New York Attorney General filed suit against GSK alleging deliberate suppression of negative results from clinical trials of anti-depressant Paxil prescribed to children and adolescents.
Patents and Innovation: Trends and Policy Challenges
Patents play an increasingly important role in innovation and economic performance. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of patent applications filed in Europe, Japan and the United States increased by more than 40%. The increasing use of patents to protect inventions by businesses and public research organisations is closely connected to recent evolutions in innovation processes, the economy and patent regimes. Scientific and technological advances have created new waves of innovation, notably in information and communications technology (ICT) and biotechnology, and innovation processes themselves have become centred less on individual firms and more dependent on interactions among global networks of actors in the public and private sectors.
Two New State Venture Capital Funds
Last issue we highlighted a new state backed venture fund in Illinois. This issue we direct readers to two other new funds.
New Jersey: http://www.nasvf.org/web/allpress.nsf/pages/9365
Louisiana: http://www.nasvf.org/web/allpress.nsf/pages/9386
Fewer Grants Force Scientists to Leave Academia
CU faculty excels at obtaining research funding from federal sources. The competitive pressures to win the awards are intense, so much so that some academics are rethinking career alternatives.
Industrial Research Support at Universities Continues to Slightly Decline
In the past three years for which data are available from the National Science Foundation, the contribution of industrial sponsored research to overall research contributions continues to decline.
Court Decision May Level the Economic Development Playing Field Among States
A recent decision handed down by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against Ohio may begin the process of limiting states' abilities to offer tax credits to companies as an inducement for the firms to expand their operations or investment within the state. Colorado, which does not participate to the extent that other states have induced company relocations with incentives, would likely be advantaged should this decision apply nationwide. Colorado's corporate location advantages such as low tax and regulatory burden, lifestyle amenities, highly educated workforce and others factors will bode well in a new era of no tax incentives for relocation. |
