January 20, 2005
New fund to help bring UW innovations to market
A joint project between the University of Washington and the Washington Research Foundation (WRF) will drive the commercialization of five promising UW technologies.
The new Technology Gap Innovation Fund (TGIF) has sponsored five UW 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 UW committed $500,000 from royalties and licensing fees generated by UW 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 UW technologies,” said UW TechTransfer Vice Provost James Severson.
WRF President and CEO Ronald Howell said, “I think this fund can help create, and enhance, UW 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.
UW TechTransfer facilitates the commercialization of new innovations arising from UW research through managing and licensing intellectual property rights.
