Technology Entrepreneurship Initiative (TEI)

Technology Entrepreneurship Faculty Seminar Oct. 5

Purpose

Oklahoma State University’s Technology Entrepreneurship Initiative (TEI) is dedicated to identifying and supporting faculty-created technological innovations – innovations that were born inside OSU’s classrooms and laboratories. The mission of TEI is to accelerate the commercialization of viable concepts, inventions, and products while promoting a university wide spirit and understanding of entrepreneurship. The program launched in 2009 and faculty members are taking and embracing the entrepreneurial spirit – already six promising technologies developed by OSU faculty in Stillwater and Tulsa are on the commercialization path. In 2010, the TEI program received a two-year grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA.org) to enable the program to include graduate students from across the campus, in addition to MBA scholar students. The grant also provides support for materials, research, and prototypes.

TEI photo

Objectives

The Technology Entrepreneurship Initiative seeks to enhance the university’s status as a leading research institution through the promotion and marketing of some of its faculty members’ greatest innovations. The initiative enhances the culture of entrepreneurship by fostering cross-campus relationships through multi-disciplinary projects. The initiative will help grow Oklahoma’s reputation as a place where innovation is at the heart of achievement and where university investment is recognized as a value added contribution.

The TEI is also seeking to add significant value to the university’s intellectual property investment. It serves to provide an outlet for burgeoning student entrepreneurs to immerse themselves in hands-on experiential learning. Ultimately, the initiative creates a new corps of entrepreneurs who will leave OSU better enabled to enact positive change in whatever ventures they may join or lead.

Leadership

OSU’s Riata Center and the Office of Intellectual Property Management have joined forces to identify, mentor and accelerate campus research activities so that they can more profitably transition to entrepreneurial business ventures. The Program Director is Mr. Steve Wood, a successful technology entrepreneur and OSU alumnus. He is supported by Ms. Nola Miyasaki, Executive Director of the Riata Entrepreneurship Center, Dr. Steve Price, Vice-President of Technology Development, and Dr. Michael Morris, of the School of Entrepreneurship. Steve works with faculty and doctoral students from all schools, colleges and departments on campus to support their innovations and connect them to resources that are critical for successful commercialization. Students from the Spears School of Business play an instrumental role in creating plans to take these innovations to market, and putting the plans into action by creating sustainable business ventures.

CIE Scholars and Technology Entrepreneurship

The Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholars Program were launched in the fall semester of 2009. CIE Scholars are the top students in the OSU MBA program. The leaders and shapers play a major role in the OSU Technology Initiative. With the help of EEE faculty support the CIE Scholars directly interact with the faculty innovators/inventors to lead the business planning efforts for commercializing these technologies. The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship has and will continue to invest in and support faculty research activities, through the CIE Scholars Program and through providing on-campus work space to help these fledgling businesses grow.

Related Support

To lend further aid to entrepreneurial faculty and enhance the OSU Technology Initiative, the Office of Intellectual Property recently launched CoSTART, a program that allows faculty members to take time from their teaching and research responsibilities to dedicate up to a year in pursuing a business venture based on their technology innovation. In addition, OSU provides laboratory space and equipment to faculty-led start-up ventures. The university will also assume the costs associated with searching and applying for patents as well as deferring licensing fees for faculty members interested in pursuing their own ventures. Finally, support is provided through the OSU Cowboy Bootcamps for Entrepreneurs and the Riata Entrepreneurial Internship Program.

Projects for 2011-2012

  1. Team 1: Removing Phosphorus From Surface Water
    Julenna Bonner, MBA
    Drew Dawson, MBA
    Jay Metha, M.S,, Chemical Engineering
    PI: Dr. Chan J. Penn, Plant and Soil Sciences
  2. Team 2: Strontium Removal Technology
    Stacey Brandhorst, MBA
    Rachel Mui Hatley, MBA
    Cory Perkins, Ph.D., Chemistry
    PI: Dr. Allen Apblett, Chemistry
  3. Team 3: Nutritional Supplement to Limit the Onset of Osteoporosis
    Cynthia Fox, MBA
    Cody Tripp, MBA
    McKale Davis, Ph.D., Nutritional Sciences
    PI: Dr. Brenda Smith, Nutritional Sciences
  4. Team 4: OverSight—Command and Control Center for Stadium Security
    Jay Omanson, MBA
    Caroline Daniels, MBA
    Jared Crain, M.S., Plant & Soil Science
    PI: Tim Reynolds, University Multispectral Labs
  5. Team 5: Web Edge Sensor
    Chuck Shirley, MBA
    Aravind Seshadri, Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering
    Shauntia White, M.S., Family Science
    PI: Prabhakar Pagilla, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  6. Team 6: Flocculation Materials to Prevent Unsafe Water Runoff from Construction Sites
    Jake Duke, MBA
    Katlynn Weather, M.S., Ag Education
    Balaji Jayakumar, PhD, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
    PI: Jason Vogel, Agricultural Engineering

Projects for 2010-2011

  1. Project: Hydrogen Fuel Production from Photosynthesis
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Ali Kann Kalkan
    Students: Faith Garlington, MBA; Gerard Dumancus, PhD, Analytical Chemistry; Kyle Eastman, MSE;
    Global demand for energy is increasing at an accelerated pace. Fortunately, the Sun exposes the Earth to 10,000 times more power than the world’s population consumes today. Conversion of sunlight to chemical fuels by artificial photosynthesis has been a long-sought goal of scientists and businesspeople. Dr. Kalkan’s invention utilizes a novel approach for breaking water into its constituent compounds—hydrogen and oxygen. Both hydrogen and oxygen are salable products. Hydrogen is a source of fuel that can be used in multiple applications.
  2. Project: Wireless Multi Sensor Platform
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Rang a Komanduri and Dr. Satish TS Bukkapatnam
    Students:Trey Knight, MBA/Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine; Ahn Hong Tran, MBA; Gilpatrick Hornsby, Masters of Science, Hospitality Management;
    Cardiac disorders are the leading cause of mortality in the world. While considerable advances have taken place in the clinical diagnosis of cardiac disorders, prognostic approaches vital for prevention have received less attention. The wireless multi sensor platform is a cardiac monitoring device which serves as an early prognostic system for cardiac disorder among the risk population. The risk population consists of critical care patients, high intensity training athletics, and infants.
  3. Project: Arsenic & Phosphate Removal From Water
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Alan Apblett
    Students: Karen Steed, MBA; Vamishi Krishna Kolla, MBA; Jonathan Kelly, Masters of Science, Agriculture;
    Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance found in water. Its toxicity has led to serious environmental problems and difficulties in procuring suitable drinking water in many parts of the world, and removing and disposing arsenic from water is an expensive process in manufacturing settings—particularly in the production of semiconductors. A large variety of materials have been tested for removing arsenic from water. Dr. Apblett has developed a novel approach for removing arsenic from water, based on the use of an insoluble metallo-organic compound that is capable of using all of its iron content to bind arsenate. The goal is to utilize this approach to commercialize a water filtration system to remove arsenic and phosphate from water. Of particular interest is LED manufacturing and process chip manufacturing. Removing arsenic and phosphate from water is a pain point in these industries.
  4. Project: Method for Fabricating Amorphous Coatings on Crystalline Substrates
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Sandip P. Harimkar
    Student: Felicity Milton, Masters in Entrepreneurship; Christopher O’Connor, MBA; Claude Kershner, MBA;
    Amorphous materials represent a class of advanced materials that exhibit valuable properties of high strength, hardness and excellent wear and corrosion resistance. The materials can be applied to machine parts and consumer products, to improve their durability, lifespan, and performance. Dr. Harimkar’s invention relates to an improved method of processing iron based amorphous coatings on metallic substrate.
  5. Project: Plasma Apparatus for Biological Decontamination & Sterilization
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Jamey D. Jacob
    Students: Annie Nsafoah, Masters of Science, Agriculture; Mike Kavalier, MBA; Marina Hargrave, MBA;
    Atmospheric pressure plasmas, also known as cold plasmas, have been demonstrated to be effective in rapid sterilization and decontamination of biological hazards such as bacteria. Cold plasma can also destroy deadly microbes such as those lodged on the skin, weapons, medical instruments, or clothing. Dr. Jacob has invented a handheld device that utilizes cold plasma to rapidly decontaminate and sterilize physical spaces and surfaces. The device has a number of potential commercial applications.
  6. Project: An Easy, Rapid Field Test for Canine Parvovirus
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Sanjay Kapil and Dr. Shashidhara Marulappa
    Students: Rebecca Crain, PhD, Counseling Psychology; Jacob Schroeder, MBA; Amir Bhochhibhoya, Masters in Entrepreneurship;
    Canine parvovirus is the largest cause of puppy mortality worldwide. There are few in-office and field diagnostic tests for canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2). Testing puppies and dogs for canine parvovirus is expensive ($15 per test). Our solution is a rapid field test for CPV-2, which takes about 1-minute at a much lower cost. The test types the CPV-2 if present, and helps kennels customize a better vaccination strategy because the operator will know the extent of the CPV-2 problem, and will know the type of virus circulating amongst the dogs in real time. This approach represents a potential breakthrough in CPV-2 detection.

Projects for 2009-2010

  1. Project: Novel Water Softening Technology
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Allen Apblett Associate Professor of Chemistry; OSU StillwaterThis innovative technology involves a way to remove the hard elements from water; primarily calcium and magnesium in a way that does not result in galvanic corrosion or high sodium levels which are risks of the current technology. The resulting products will employ a novel and totally different chemistry than found in commercial products today. The technology is environmentally friendly and recyclable.
  2. Project: RFID Soap Dispenser
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Alan Cheville Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering; OSU Stillwater
    As the name implies this is a radio frequency device that monitors hand washing count by individuals. While some “compliance” based systems are coming to market, this technology is simpler and should be more affordable to a wider customer base. With the advent of stricter requirements for higher and higher health and safety standards this technology is expected to find a ready customer base.
  3. Project: Video Reduction Technology
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Jay Hanan; Associate Professor Mechanical & Aero Space Engineering; OSU Tulsa
    This technology employs a neural network artificial intelligence to identify and reduce key information out of video scatter. Much video needs to be interpreted by various parties for graphic numbers or letters contained in older generation video. This is important before the advent of high definition and steady state recording devices. Numerous libraries exist that need key alpha/numeric restoration, but do not justify slow, costly visual interpretation.
  4. Project: Constructing & Testing a Portable Balance and Stability Apparatus for the Elderly
    Principal Investigator: Bert Jacobson, Professor/ Head Educational Studies OSU Stillwater
    This innovative devise is a mechanical apparatus for preventing falls for elderly unstable users while exercising. Exercise is critical for continued health in the elderly, but often the staffing is insufficient to monitor exercise programs at elderly living facilities and commercial exercise businesses and therefore the elderly suffer from being limited or are ignored on such a vital part of their continued health.
  5. Project: Developing Data Protection Software Based on Data Shuffling
    Principal Investigator: Dr. Rathindra Sarathy; Ardmore Professor in Management Science & Information Systems; OSU Stillwater
    The technology is advanced software to scramble data. The software operates on original confidential data that, when shuffled, yield the same reliability for sampling as the original data set without the operator having any knowledge or access to the original data. Further the shuffled data can be transmitted openly since the shuffled data cannot be reversed to reveal the original data. The Intellectual Property is owned jointly by the University of Kentucky and Oklahoma State University. A company has been formed (SecureAnalytics, LLC) and a website presence is under development which demonstrates the data shuffling routine. Preliminary market surveys of the target market segments have been conducted, with high commercial response.
  6. Project: Xplosafe
    Principal Investigators: Dr. Allen Apblett Associate Professor of Chemistry and Dr. Nick Materer, Associate Professor of Chemistry, OSU Stillwater
    This is a project extending out of MBA student work with a technology in the Spring of 2009. Chemical technologies have been developed to provide a real-time detection and prevention system for improvised explosive devices (IED’s) and chemically related storage vessels with the potential for accidental explosion. Following their presentation of the business plan at a national MBA business plan competition, two of the MBA students have formed a company based in Stillwater, and negotiated an equity sharing agreement with the inventors. The company has great commercial potential for not only military use, but for first responders, HASMAT clean-up, and laboratory safety. Prospective customers are currently in trial stages with the company’s products, initial production capabilities are being established, and financing is being sought. Technology development work also continues.

    Technology Entrepreneurship Faculty Seminar Oct. 5