Earlier this week, two analysts at the IBM Center for the Business of Government posted a brief overview of USTAR’s approach to using federal stimulus dollars to drive innovation.
The article is called “Using Stimulus to Innovate.”
You can find the article at http://therecoveryact.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/using-the-stimulus-to-innovate/
On March 9th, Jennifer Logan, Ph.D. spoke at the Leonardo After Hours “From Helix to Healthcare” event, co-sponsored by the Leonardo and USTAR. She is Program Director for Personalized Health Care at the University of Utah. The following is based on her remarks.
It’s ten years from now, and you’re perched on your physician’s examination table. Your doctor is consulting an electronic tablet that contains your health history, including a representation of your whole genome sequence. That vast and complex data set has become a standard part of your medical record, and will influence the doctor’s decision as she enters a prescription order for a specific medicine best suited to treat you. She is confident of a good outcome, that a debilitating condition has been nipped in the bud.
The first human genome sequence took a decade to complete and cost $2.7 billion. Scientists can now sequence a human genome in a few days at a cost of $50,000. In a decade, the sequence should take a few hours to process for less than the cost of a steak and potato dinner (which you shouldn’t have given your family’s predisposition to high cholesterol). (more…)
With a typical award size of $30,000, USTAR Technology Commercialization Grants (TCGs) will assist regional and research higher education faculty to prototype, test, assess markets, and commercialize new products and services in high-growth markets. In addition, Utah-based companies and other third parties willing to sponsor technology development work at regional public institutions of higher learning may jointly apply with a faculty member.
Using $3 million in federal stimulus funds, the program assists faculty to prototype, test, and commercialize new products in high-growth markets. The TCG program currently represents active “seed” projects at USU, Weber State University, Salt Lake Community College, U of U, UVU, SUU, Dixie State College, and Dixie Applied Technology College. Nearly two thirds of the projects represent collaborations between faculty members and local company or entrepreneur co-applicants.
To date, 44 projects across the state have received TCG funding. USTAR TCGs are helping bring to market breakthroughs in energy, biomedical technology, and other fields, including:
• Large-capacity, sodium-based batteries
• Bone grafts that release their own antibiotics
• An enhanced industrial spray coating process
• A “smart” wireless communication antennae
• Streamlined rail car maintenance
• Nano delivery of gene therapy for eye disease
• Learning design tools for non-technical users
• Improved portable water purification systems
• Satellite-based, internet-accessible farm soil monitoring
To apply for the latest round of USTAR regional Technology Commercialization Grants, visit http://www.innovationutah.com/tcgrants.html. Application deadline is March 31 at noon.
Four innovative research projects at Weber State University have received $139,600 in grant money from the Utah Science Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) Technology Commercialization Grants (TCG) program.
The grant recipients represent a diverse cross-section of academic disciplines, faculty and staff at WSU — many working in partnership with local industry.
Funded projects range from a mobile phone application that automatically tracks media consumption to a novel rooftop storage system for vehicles to ways to extend the life of metal landing gear on aircraft. The projects are at various stages in the development process.
WSU assistant computer science professor Rob Hilton, who received one of the grants, has eight students working with a local firm to write the new phone application.
Rob Hilton
USTAR anticipates awarding six to 10 TCG grants on a quarterly basis. The first group of 10 recipients, including six WSU projects, was announced in November 2009.
The Westminster College Institute for New Enterprise is holding a series of free public lectures of interest to entrepreneurs and business people. Evening discussions with notable business people are held at the Bill & Vieve Gore School of Business Auditorium on the college’s Salt Lake City campus (1840 South 1300 East).
The line-up includes:
March 17
6:30 PM
Jeff Pedersen (‘03) – CEO and President, Del Sol
8:00 PM
Kate Maloney—CEO, Cofounder, Costume Craze
March 24
6:30 PM
Bill Child—Chairman of the Board, R. C. Willey Home Furnishings
8:00 PM
Mark Young—Owner of five McDonald’s, McDonald’s
www.digitaluproar.com
PushButton Summit debuting
Digital Uproar to build industry-specific social sharing.
Attendees at the PushButton Summit convening in Salt Lake City March 9-10 will meet their peers in the digital media community face to face. Those new personal connections can continue to grow in an online “knowledge networking” community called Digital Uproar, provisioned from social media products company SpectrumDNA, Inc. (OTC BB: SPXA).
Launching at the conference, www.digitaluproar.com aims to be a community-driven utility to encourage digital media artists, technicians, executives and other stakeholders to share and interact with ideas, events, places, products, and potential business opportunities.
“There’s tremendous momentum and excitement in Utah’s digital media industry, a lot to roar about, if you will,” said Steven Roy, USTAR Central Utah technology outreach director. “We want to give companies and individuals the ability to reach out, work together, and accelerate the industry’s growth.”
From outdoor products in Ogden to renewable energy technology in St. George, USTAR TCG projects are focused on innovations that support regional growth initiatives.
USTAR is publishing a new kind of annual report, one that’s in “bite-sized” pieces you might have time to read. We’ll be adding chapters over the next few weeks. Today’s edition covers the USTAR Technology Outreach and Innovation Program.
Technology Commercialization Grants help innovators statewide
Announced in August 2009, the USTAR Technology Commercialization Grant (TCG) program is designed to bring innovative new technologies to market from Utah’s public research universities and regional higher-ed institutions. Using $3 million in federal stimulus funds, the program assists faculty to prototype, test, and commercialize new products in high-growth markets. To date, 44 projects across the state have received TCG funding.
USTAR is publishing a new kind of annual report, one that’s in “bite-sized” pieces you might have time to read. We’ll be adding chapters over the next few weeks. Today’s edition covers the USTAR Technology Outreach and Innovation Program.
$1.1 billion in grant applications — More than $40 million won so far
Federal funding for energy-related projects has exploded, providing Utah opportunities to leverage existing strengths and create jobs in the new energy economy. Through the end of 2009, USTAR’s Technology Outreach team coordinated and supported $1.1 billion in grant applications, for USTAR and non-USTAR entities. Utah-supported applicants have won more than $40 million in new research funding so far, with an additional $450 million pending.
400% increase in federal alternative energy research funding (billions)
