USU Groups Win Grants for Commercialization and Innovation Programs
Three Utah State University projects competed for and were awarded $120,000 in grant money from the state of Utah during the most recent Technology Commercialization and Innovation Program solicitation period. Twenty-two grants were awarded statewide.
The Technology Commercialization & Innovation Program is a state of Utah funded grant program developed by the Utah Legislature in 1986 to help accelerate the process of taking university-developed, cutting-edge technologies to market.
“These grants serve as recognition of the diversity and strength of innovations developed by Utah State University research,” said Robert T. Behunin, USU vice president for commercialization and regional development. “University research and industry partnerships lead to innovation and economic impact for the state and local economies. USU has a robust technology portfolio that continues to grow and we look forward to the opportunities that result from that growth.”
USU projects receiving funding this round were:
AnalySwift: Licensee, Allan Wood
AnalySwift™, a Utah State University spinout company offers efficient, high-fidelity modeling tools for composite materials and structures. This is accomplished using a powerful mathematical approach that dramatically reduces engineering time relative to 3D FEA (finite element analyses), without a loss of accuracy.
Composite materials have the potential to meet requirements of modern and future engineering systems because they are lightweight, durable and low-maintenance; the use of traditional mechanisms to model composites results in methods that are either too simple to be predictive, or too computationally prohibitive to be practical.
AnalySwift™ uses cutting-edge technology developed by Utah State University professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Wenbin Yu, CTO of AnalySwift™. The AnalySwift™ technology suite includes two products, SwiftComp Micromechanics™ and VABS. Other products are forthcoming.
SwiftComp Micromechanics™, a general-purpose micromechanics code, allows engineers to better predict and design composites and other heterogeneous materials. SwiftComp Micromechanics™ can calculate a complete set of material properties with a single analysis and saves engineering time and cost. It has been used in aerospace, energy, biological materials and automotive industries. VABS, the tool of choice for the wind energy and helicopter industries, allows engineers to efficiently and accurately model complex beam-shaped structures — like helicopter, wind turbine blades and composite bridges.
Synthetic Spider Silk Fibers: Principle Investigator, Randolph V. Lewis
There are more than 100,000 anterior cruciate ligament and 75,000 rotator cuff repair and replacement surgeries in the United States each year, costing consumers more than $3 billion yearly.
A team of USU experts are addressing a critical need for new repair strategies that stimulate the patient’s healing potential. The goal for Lewis and his team is to develop spider silk protein fibers for the repair and replacement of ligaments and tendons by identifying the best fiber processing methods to achieve the necessary mechanical properties.
Spider silk is 100 times stronger than a natural ligament and 10 times stronger than a natural tendon; it is stronger than Kevlar and more elastic than nylon.
Lewis expects to develop materials with superior in vitro characteristics to be used as tendon or ligament repair and replacements using synthetically developed spider silk.
Lewis, a recently hired USTAR researcher will work with the Synthetic Bio-Manufacturing Center at Utah State University to manufacture spider silk using a number of methods including extracting proteins from goat’s milk.
Thermal Management Technology: Licensee, J. Clair Batty
Utah State University spun out Thermal Management Technologies (TMT) in 2008. Founded by Clair Batty, retired USU professor and former department head of mechanical and aerospace engineering, TMT is beneficiary of Utah State University’s legacy of successfully designing, building and deploying leading edge satellite instruments into space.
However, TMT’s innovations are not confined to space. This is certainly true of TMT’s non-obtrusive water flow meter, an instrument used to measure linear, nonlinear, mass or volumetric flow rate of a liquid or a gas.
The TMT developed water flow meter is low cost, has no moving parts and no fowling potential. Other water flow meters currently available are expensive, complex, easily fowled and impractical for secondary water use—a growing area of water flow monitoring. Small thermal and optical sensors react to flow across and around their surfaces. Data is transferred by wireless device and is uploaded intermittently.
TMT’s expertise is being applied to diverse industries from Agriculture to Oil and Gas. For example, TMT is responsible for the Accelerated Vapor Recompression (AVARA) and Trilogy platforms now being deployed for oil and gas field wastewater reclamation by Purestream Technologies, Inc.
The office of Commercial Enterprises at Utah State University, a division of Commercialization and Regional Development, led by USU Vice President Robert Behunin, provides a one-stop-shop for industry partnership and intellectual property development. Commercial Enterprises team members have valuable experience in business development and entrepreneurship that identify, secure and propagate economic value by leveraging Utah State University’s intellectual capital and physical assets. Directors of business development and intellectual pr
operty managers have the applied knowledge of industry internal operations, management concepts and intellectual property protection vital to success.