Research Commercialization Academy (BETA 0.01)

Author: Stephen G. Wells

Source: The Las Vegas Sun

Interest: The Nevada Legislature was visionary in 1959 when it created the Desert Research Institute. DRI has flourished as an entrepreneurial campus of 500 scientists, engineers and technicians who leveraged the state’s $8.2 million allocation last year into $45.5 million in revenue.

Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb/13/economic-engine-nevada/

Author: Melba Kurman

Source: Blogging Innovation

Interest: A few months ago, Bernie Knight, General Counsel of the USPTO, stated that in order to ensure optimal ROI on tax-payer-funded university research, the Patent Office would likely come out in support of giving universities stronger ownership rights.

Link: http://www.business-strategy-innovation.com/wordpress/2011/02/protecting-university-inventions-from-whom/

Author: Diane S.W. Lee

Source: Illinois Statehouse News

Interest: As Wisconsin and New Jersey governors work to lure Illinois businesses away, new legislation backed by the state treasurer would work to attract new startup technology companies and retain existing firms.

Link: http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/5105/state-treasurer-pushes-more-venture-capital-investment/

Author: Alex Laats

Source: Venture Beat

Interest: Most VCs consider it a very bad idea to invest in companies doing contract research and development for the government. Government R&D is a specialized business model that’s made even more complicated by the nuances of government accounting and contracting practices.

Link: http://venturebeat.com/2011/02/11/how-to-turn-rd-work-for-uncle-sam-into-a-real-business/

Author: John Yantis

Source: The Arizona Republic

Interest: Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus will launch a research center today in an effort to make the state's defense and aerospace industries more competitive.

Link: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2011/02/10/20110210asu-set-launch-aerospace-center.html

Author: ROBERT TRIGAUX

Source: ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

Interest: The pace of venture capital activity in Florida last year was pretty dismal.

Link: http://www.theledger.com/article/20110210/NEWS/102105048/1178?Title=Florida-s-Venture-Capital-Investment-Picture-May-Be-Picking-Up

Author: GoozNews

Source: GoozNews

Interest: For most of the past decade, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have competed over who could pour more money into the National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the world.

Link: http://gooznews.com/?p=2476

Author: Lori Hawkins

Source: AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Interest: The deals keep coming. Three companies Socialware, Boundless Network and Nuventix Inc. said Wednesday that they have raised new rounds of venture capital totaling $11.8 million.

Link: http://www.statesman.com/business/three-startup-companies-say-theyve-raised-11-8-1244245.html

Author: Alix Stuart

Source: CFO.com

Interest: The good news is that venture investing grew in 2010 for the first time since 2007, according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

Link: http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14554756/c_14555235

Author: The Gov Monitor

Source: Gov. of Texas

Interest: Governor Rick Perry has announced investments through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) in three companies for the commercialization of their innovative technologies.

Link: http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/united_states/texas-invests-6-35-million-for-innovative-emerging-technologies-46208.html

Author: Amanda Gardner

Source: Health Day

Interest: A surprising number of valuable new drugs and vaccines approved in the United States have arisen wholly from research funded by the public sector, new research finds.

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/649734.html

Author: Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology

Source: Biowire

Interest: Rheonix, Inc. today announced the receipt of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant in the amount of $500,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue development of a Rheonix CARD® (Chemistry and Reagent Device) system to detect certain types of water contamination.

Link: http://www.genengnews.com/industry-updates/rheonix-receives-500k-sbir-phase-ii-award-from-national-science-foundation-to-complete-developm/108287560/

Author: Martin LaMonica

Source: CNET News

Interest: Even as much of the tech world fixates on running out of Internet addresses, Deborah Magid from IBM's venture capital group predicts many more devices not traditionally considered computers will join the Internet.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20031151-54.html

Author: John Merritt

Source: University of Minnesota

Interest: The University of Minnesota finalized an agreement with Upstream Technologies, a Minneapolis startup company that aims to commercialize a device that will improve sediment control for urban runoff (storm water).

Link: http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releases/2011/UR_CONTENT_294155.html

Author: Los Angeles-based Crescent Financial Partners, Inc.

Source: Crescent Financial Partners, Inc.

Interest: Through partnerships with top regional university research facilities, Innovation Economy Corporation will seek to create shareholder value by capitalizing on licensed technologies in the energy, medical device, and technology sectors.

Link: http://classic.cnbc.com/id/41414360

Author: Cynthia Sequin, Elizabeth Gardner

Source: Joseph B. Hornett, Richard O. Buckius

Interest: WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue officials reported double-digit increases in research funding and in the number of new patents issued for Purdue technologies in an annual governance report presented Friday (Feb. 4) to the university's Board of Trustees.

Link: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2011/110204BOTDiscovery.html

Author: David Young

Source: Coloradoan.com

Interest: It owes a great deal to Colorado State University’s supercluster, MicroRx.The CSU startup, launched in 2003, would only be about a quarter of the way to where it is if not for the cluster community in Fort Collins, said Doug Johnson, secretary of Advanced MicroLabs

Link: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20110206/BUSINESS/110204026/CSU-supercluster-alliance-making-global-impact

Author: Deborah Gage

Source: Wall Street Journals

Interest: Relationships between angel investors and venture capitalists are not always smooth, but when the two are competing to invest in the same startups – which happens more frequently now that hot young tech companies need less money to get going – interactions can get tense.

Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/02/04/angels-to-vcs-please-don’t-send-us-your-leftovers/

Author: Guest Contributor

Source: Silicon Apairienews

Interest: Since 2006 and before, the forces of good have pleaded with the State of Nebraska to bring the State into the 21st century regarding incentives for new innovative ventures.

Link: http://www.siliconprairienews.com/2011/02/special-series-talent-and-innovation-initiative-business-innovation-act

Author: Pradeep Chakraborty

Source: PS Semicon

Interest: STARKVILLE, USA: Camgian Microsystems Corp., a provider of advanced electronic systems and semiconductor technologies, has been awarded a three-year, $9.2 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 3 project by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Dayton, Ohio.

Link: http://pcsemicon.blogspot.com/2011/02/camgian-microsystems-awarded-phase-iii.html