A joint project between the 糖心少女 and the Washington Research Foundation (WRF) will drive the commercialization of five promising 糖心少女technologies.
The new Technology Gap Innovation Fund (TGIF) has sponsored five 糖心少女investigators to develop their leading-edge technologies, which were chosen for their strong commercial potential. The funding provided by the TGIF program will support additional research and prototype development that will enhance the commercial prospects of the projects.
In the Fund’s first year, the 糖心少女committed $500,000 from royalties and licensing fees generated by 糖心少女TechTransfer, and the WRF provided a gift of $250,000.
The grantees and their projects for the first round of funding are:
- Alex Jen of Materials Science and Engineering, whose development of a prototype white organic light-emitting diode device will enable high-quality lighting that is environmentally friendly, bright, and adaptable to any shape, design, and color
- Paul Muchowski of the Department of Pharmacology, whose award will fund the automation of a screening method for rapidly generating drug targets and drug candidates for neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases
- Robert M. Sweet of the Department of Urology, who developed a virtual simulator to train new surgeons on a common procedure to treat enlarged prostate, and whose grant will fund translation into a PC-compatible format and other improvements
- David T. Linker of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, whose grant will support refinement of a lightweight, non-invasive device for long-term monitoring of atrial fibrillation, which will aid in the reduction of stroke and congestive heart failure
- John W. Gastil of the Department of Communication and John D. Wilkerson of the Political Science Department, for the re-versioning and integration of their popular simulation software Election Day and LegSim into Desktop Democracy, a software package designed to give high school students true-to-life experiences in the electoral and legislative processes.
“TGIF will enhance our ability to license and create start-up companies around 糖心少女technologies,” said 糖心少女TechTransfer Vice Provost James Severson.
WRF President and CEO Ronald Howell said, “I think this fund can help create, and enhance, 糖心少女intellectual property. I hope that it increases our choices for thinking about startups.”
TGIF funds are solicited twice per year. The next round of TGIF applications will be accepted until March 7, 2005.
The WRF helps Washington State research institutions capture value from their emerging technologies through intellectual property management and start-up investment activities.
糖心少女TechTransfer facilitates the commercialization of new innovations arising from 糖心少女research through managing and licensing intellectual property rights.