The newsletter of The University of Texas System Office of Technology Commercialization Summer & Fall 2013

Just A Little Is EnoughA new approach to surgery is making a mark on the industry

but not on the patients

UTweet15 UT System Institutions, 16 twitter feeds to follow

Up and ComingNew technologies coming out of UT System

institutions

Student StartupHorizon Student Investment

Competition winner on road to success

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

A message from the Vice Chancellor

Welcome to Horizons, a publication of The University of Texas System Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) that celebrates the discovery accomplishments of our 15 universities and academic health centers.

Every day at UT brings a new story of accomplishment. Through our lens you will be delighted by the truly remarkable research ranging from engineering, health care, physical and biological sciences, informatics and nanotechnology. Planting research seeds and growing them into commercial products that benefit the public is easily the most challenging aspect of the discovery life cycle. That’s why Horizons is essential reading if you wish to understand how drugs are born, energy is greening up, big data is moving and much, much more.

This issue also highlights the strong accomplishments of the UT System OTC. The UT Horizon Fund was reauthorized for an additional $12.5 million by the UT System Board of Regents in February. To better understand campus needs in advancing technology commercialization, OTC conducted a systemwide appraisal and also a back-testing model to quantify potential return on investments for UT startups. Results have been incorporated into new Horizon Fund directions. The 2013 student investment competition was a huge success, where 16 student teams from across UT System institutions competed for up to $100,000 in funds.

It is also my great pleasure to bring OTC into central focus as the office takes on a new direct reporting relationship to me as vice chancellor of research and innovation. All of these events open new avenues that promote technology commercialization and spotlight the UT System’s commitment to this vital and innovative enterprise.

– Patricia Hurn, Ph.D.

On The Horizon 1

In Brief 2Just a Little is Enough 4New Clean WaterFiltering Method 6

Technology Showcase 8

UT System on Twitter 10

PAT R I C I A H U R N , P h . D .Vice Chancellor forResearch and Innovation

F R A N C I S C O G . C I G A R R O A , M . D .Chancellor, UT System

B RYA N A L L I N S O NExecutive Director Office of Technology Commercialization

ABOUT HORIZONS

Horizons is published by

the Office of Technology

Commercialization (OTC) at

The University of Texas System.

Horizons is dedicated to

showcasing the newest

developments in technology

commercialization at the

UT System, as well as detailing

new ventures coming from

within the OTC. For additional

information about Horizons or

its contents, contact us via

email at otc@utsystem.edu.

CONTENTS

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

1

In addition to underscoring the “everything is

bigger in Texas” motto, the Texas Advanced

Computing Center’s (TACC) recently unveiled

the Stampede supercomputer. It is the most

powerful in the U.S, dedicated to academic

research and is the 7th fastest supercom-

puter in the world.

Comprised of Dell and Intel parts, over 75

miles of fiber optic cables and spanning

nearly 200 cabinets in the Austin-based

TACC facility, Stampede is water cooled

through reservoirs under the facility floor. In

addition to 272 terabytes of total memory,

Stampede delivers 10 petaflops of perfor-

mance (A petaflop is a measure of the

operations a computer can process in a

single second. For example, 2+2 is one

operation. Stampede can process 10

quadrillion such operations per second).

Coming in at $27.5 million, the cost of

Stampede is a small price to pay when you

consider the impact it already has on

researchers who solve scientific problems

that would otherwise be impossible, such

as predicting tumor growth, earthquakes

and severe weather occurrences.

In fact, 90 percent of Stampede’s system is

dedicated to the Extreme Science and

Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE).

The most powerful collection of digital

resources in the world, XSEDE is a single

virtual system that scientists can use to

share computing resources, collaborate data

and transmit ideas. XSEDE is composed

primarily of higher learning institutions that

have contributed their resources toward this

partnership, and XSEDE projects focus on

gaining knowledge that cannot be learned

through conventional means. The capabili-

ties resulting from assembling so many

powerful computing systems far exceed the

sum of their parts.

While the vast majority of Stampede will be

dedicated toward XSEDE, its remaining

power will be available for researchers

across UT System and members of TACC’s

Science & Technology Affiliates for Re-

search (STAR) Program to use.

Additionally, some students

will be able to interact with

Stampede directly in select

classes, allowing them to log

into the computer and conduct

research. And, with this training

under their belts, anything is

possible.

Jeet Vijay directs the investment activities at

University of Texas Horizon Fund. He manages

all aspects of investment process including

deal origination, analysis, structuring and

portfolio monitoring. He is also responsible for

developing and managing relations with the

venture capital community.

Most recently, Jeet worked as an investment

director for a U.S-based emerging markets,

focused private equity fund where he was

responsible for developing and managing the

South Asia, Middle East and Greece portfolio.

Jeet also has corporate experience in the

domains of strategic planning, financial analysis

and international expansion acquired while

working for, or consulting with, companies in

retailing and the energy sector.

His academic background includes a

Bachelor’s in Business Administration from The

University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s in

Energy Resource Management from UT Austin

and an MBA from Rice University. When the

opportunity to work for his alma mater

presented itself, Jeet jumped at the chance.

Working in the emerging and complex space

of the university-backed venture industry is

something that he is passionate about and

“living in Austin, the best city in the country,”

made the decision a no-brainer. He is also a

level-2 Chartered Alternative Investment

Analyst (CAIA) candidate and he holds Series

7, 79 and Series 66 (equivalent of 63 & 65)

Securities Licenses.

Jeet hopes to help the OTC fulfill its mission

by creating economic and social value by

commercializing and monetizing UT System’s

intellectual properties.

“Working in a start-up environment, one in

which we collaborate extensively, is a major

reason why I love coming into work,” Jeet says.

Horizon Fund team welcomes Jeet VijayStampede supercomputer makes solving the impossible, possible

Stampede uses Dell’s Scorpion chassis to store the supercomputer’s

processors, enabling indvidual components to be removed and

maintained without the entire system needing to be shut down.

Jeet Vijay, the newest

addition to the UT System

OTC, brings with him

experience and knowledge

to open up new doors for

the Horizon Fund.

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

2

Nanofibers may be small — it takes 1,000 nanofibers to

equal the thickness of a single human hair — but boy do

they have might. Nanofibers have a host of properties that

make them superior to almost every other material

available today. With a dramatically higher surface-area-to-

volume ratio, up to 1,000 times higher than microfibers,

nanofibers are far more efficient than most commonly

used fibers when it comes to applications such as

chemical delivery, electron and photon transfer, and

filtration. They have fantastic tensile strength, increased

resistance to cracking and much improved thermal and

electrical properties over their microfiber counterparts.

From healthcare to energy, textiles to water filtration,

nanofiber applications are limitless.

Just ask Ellery Buchanan, President and CEO of FibeRio

Technology Corporation, a developer and manufacturer of

nanofiber production systems.

“Nanofibers will be used for everything from air filters to

wound bandages, from aerospace composites to batteries,

and from diapers to clothing,” said Buchanan. “In the

nearest coming years it will be surgical gowns and air

filters. Then it will expand to clothing and energy.”

While the uses for nanofibers may be limitless, producing

them in large quantities has proven difficult and expensive.

Enter FibeRio. Co-founded in 2009 with The University of

Texas Pan American (UTPA), FibeRio’s breakthrough

Forcespinning technology allows for industrial scale

production of nanofibers in a process that is more versatile,

efficient, cost-effective and safe than any other process in

use today.

“Our competitors combine electricity with dangerous

solvents to make nanofibers,” explains Buchanan. “We

simply use centrifugal force, like cotton candy, so we can

make the fibers with or without solvents. This means that

Forcespinning has ten times the productivity, is one quarter

of the cost and is environmentally friendly.”

Combine FibeRio’s revolutionary Forcespinning technology

with other rapidly occurring innovations in the field of

nanotechnology and the world is poised to see not only

the rise of a multi-billion dollar industry, but unprecedented,

widespread implementation of nanofibers in products and

applications.

“Nanotechnology is the science of the small, but the

opportunity is very big. It has been estimated that the total

impact of nanotechnology could soon be over $200 billion.

Nanofibers are one piece of that puzzle. And, it is estimat-

ed that the market will be several billion dollars by 2020,”

Buchanan said.

FibeRio is set to have a major influence on this untapped

market. Coming out of UTPA and with offices located in

Edinburg, Texas, FibeRio looks to not only expand its own

capabilities to keep up with the increasing demand for

nanofibers, but to put South Texas on the map of ad-

vanced nanotechnology producers.

“FibeRio will continue to expand the productivity and size of

our equipment very rapidly,” Buchanan said. “We will

enable huge advancements in filtering the air we all

breathe and even the water we drink, in the clothes we

wear and in the power that drives our daily lives. Some of

this innovation is occurring right here with our research

partners in the UT System, and we are proud of the

opportunities we have to give back to this great state

through jobs, commerce and service.”

Keep an eye out for products incorporating nanofibers

produced by companies like FibeRio in the near future. As

proliferation of technologies such as FibeRio’s spread,

nanofibers are destined to become the material of choice

for crafting products we use in our everyday lives, for

every purpose that can be imagined.

IN B

RIEF

Nanofibers put new spin on manufacturing possibilites

Above: A scientist at FibeRio operates a proprietary Forcespinning Cyclone device

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

3

An estimated 1.2 million people in the U.S. have

some form of abdominal aortic aneurysm

(AAA) every year — when the large blood

vessel (aorta) that supplies blood to the

abdomen, pelvis and legs becomes abnormally

large or balloons outward. Current procedures

to repair AAA end up leaking 17 percent of the

time, warranting costly secondary surgeries or

interventions.

But not for long thanks to Dr. Jordan Kaufmann,

Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. graduate of The

University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and

2012 winner of the first annual University of

Texas Horizon Fund Student Investment

Competition (SIC).

Kaufmann, who was awarded a $50,000 grant,

will use the money to support Cardiovate, a

startup company dedicated to the development

of a new stent-graft that vastly improves

treatment of AAA.

Dr. Kaufmann’s research has focused on

replacing current synthetic graft material with

tissue engineering scaffold for aneurysm repair

(TESAR). Current stent-grafts are made of

Teflon or other polymers that don’t actually

cause the aneurysm to heal. The TESAR

scaffold promotes a tissue barrier at the site of

the aneurysm. Once the barrier is established,

the TESAR bioresorbs into the body.

“Current methods for treating an aneurysm don’t

promote healing and can leak,” said Dr.

Kaufmann. ”The TESAR stent-graft heals the

aneurysm instead of just covering it up.”

By facilitating natural healing, the TESAR

stent-graft reduces the need for secondary

surgeries and interventions, which reduces

healthcare costs and improves patient outcomes.

After six years of developing TESAR technology

in the lab, Dr. Kaufmann decided to

commercialize her technology.

“Coming from a medical background, many of

the business aspects of starting my own

company post new challenges,” said Dr.

Kaufmann. “More logistical than anything else,

the company side of getting our technology to

market is a new adventure.”

In addition to raising additional funds to help

Cardiovate take off, Dr. Kaufmann is working on

scaling her TESAR technology for commercial

manufacturing.

While Cardiovate has a promising future,

participation in the Horizon competition has its

benefits too.

“Competing in the SIC prompted me to organize

my business plan and think about the direction I

wanted my company to take,” Dr. Kaufmann said.

“The requirements of the SIC helped me to do

the groundwork for the company and to visualize

how Cardiovate would be brought to life.”

While there’s much work to be done, Dr.

Kaufmann’s committed to bringing TESAR

to market.

“We’re looking to have our first human trial

within 2 years,” said Dr. Kaufmann. “If that

goes well, we are going to try to make it into

the European market in 5-6 years. If we are

successful there, hopefully our technology will

be the new industry standard for treating

aneurysms. We see our technology as a next

generation graft that will push the market up.”

UTSA grad’s innovative aneurysm repair gets it right the first time Jordan Kaufmann, Ph.D.,

inventor of the TESAR and

founder of Cardiovate

A new partnership focused on technology life cycle and long-term sustainability

Since joining The University of Texas System in

January 2011, Executive Director Bryan Allinson

has led the Office of Technology

Commercialization in creating the UT Horizon

Fund, the strategic market-driven venture fund

for the system. Mr. Allinson and the UT

Horizon Fund team work closely with UT

institutions where a new startup is formed

every nine days, a commercialization

agreement signed every three days and a new

patent filed every 2 days.

“The strategic mission of the Fund is to

improve technology commercialization out of

discovery research in a way that is sustainable

over time,” said Allinson. “Too often

programs get started, funding dries up or

there are other challenges that limit our ability

to ‘bridge the gap’. Our emphasis on a

long-term sustainable business model

enables us to utilize market feedback so that

investments have the potential to provide a

return. That return can then be leveraged as a

positive feedback loop to reinvest in success.”

Allinson added that a 10-year back-testing

model of the Fund showed that UT System

could have potentially invested in 72

companies from 2002-2012, providing the

possibility of 12 separate exits and three major

exits for a 54 percent return on investment.

“If UT System would have started the Fund

10 years ago, it would be in better position to

assist the discovery to market life cycle,”

Allinson said.

In addition to starting the Fund, Allinson has

led nine investments into UT startups,

including Austin’s M-87, Houston’s PLx

A new partnership continued on page 7

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

4

Pain, hospital stay, risk of infection, scarring. They go hand-in-hand with any invasive surgical procedure, and demand careful management from medical and hospital staff, and endurance and self-care from the patient.

What if there was a way to perform surgery that was less invasive — that was not only less traumatic for patients but more efficient and effective too? Until recently, the technol-ogy to perform complex surgeries without external incisions did not exist. But the emerging field of endosurgery — mini-mally invasive surgery — is about to change all that, and Apollo Endosurgery, Inc. is helping to lead the way.

Founded in 2006 on initial groundwork of the Apollo Group, a conglomerate of gastroenterologists and surgeons from the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, the Medical University of South Carolina, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Apollo Endosurgery’s goal is to advance the field of endosurgery and less invasive therapies through cutting-edge research and development, and commercialization of the group’s inventions and innovations. In fact, the devices used in endosurgeries give this developing field incalculable potential.

“Apollo and other venture-backed startup companies are leading the efforts in developing new technologies in this space,” said Dennis McWilliams, CEO and founder of Apollo. “Traditionally, smaller companies have been the birthplace of innovation in life sciences. It’s typically not until a new technology has been through the gauntlet of regulatory approval, proof of concept and early commercialization that larger companies take on the marketing and sales of these innovations.”

The OverStitch™ suturing system and OverTube™ endo-scopic access system are Apollo’s two flagship products. OverStitch allows doctors to suture incisions precisely through a single insertion of the endoscope. The OverTube is a sheath placed around the endoscope during surgeries that protects both the device and the patient. Not one to rest on its laurels, Apollo is focused on expanding their product line to include more affordable and innovative endoscopic develop-ments.

“Our niche is in flexible, disposable, cost-effective surgical tools that fit on or through a flexible endoscope,” said

McWilliams. “Additionally, energy-based therapies are also of interest to us.”

Apollo is currently developing the SuMO™ tissue access system, which will allow doctors to treat suspicious lesions of greater size endoscopically, an alternative to highly-invasive procedures that can lead to digestive complications and fatalities.

As innovations in the field of endosurgery evolve, so will its applications and reach. In fact, when it comes to making non-invasive surgery available to more people, the envelope is constantly being pushed.

Dennis McWilliams predicts that up one third of surgical procedures will be performed through less invasive means over the next decade. It’s a trend that spells booming business for companies like Apollo, enabling its founder to bring his company’s vision to life.

“We want to revolutionize patient care by driving the adoption of endoscopic therapy,” said McWilliams. “Initially, we focused on patients that were too sick for normal surgery, and flexible endoscopic surgery offered the only option to solve a gastrointestinal problem. Increasingly we are treating a broader range of patients — from the very sick to patients who simply want a less invasive option for their therapy.”

The innovations of Apollo are helping to elevate endosurgery within the field of medicine. However, innovations as vast as theirs are not always readily adopted. One of the major challenges facing industry leaders like Dennis McWilliams is raising awareness of the benefits that the endoscopic route can bring to the operating table.

“Many people don’t realize that endoscopic alternatives are available for many procedures right now, today,” said McWil-liams.

As people become aware of the option to reduce pain, hospital stays and scarring, endoscopic alternatives are bound to catch on.

Above: The OverStitch™ system allows for quick and precise sutures while

subjecting the patient to minimal amounts of trauma

Just a Little is Enough: Apollo Endosurgery Envisions A Painless Future For Surgeries

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

5

“The availability of an instrument capable of detecting several agents simultaneously would greatly enhance our response to a possible bioterror attack or the emer-gence of a disease not often seen here”

- Richard Wilson Lead Researcher, University of Houston

BIKE REFLECTORS ON DECK TO DETECT BIOTERRORISM, INFECTIOUS DISEASES

The retroreflector technology used to create safety reflectors for bicycles, running shoes and apparel may soon be used to detect bioterror threats and aid emer-gency response crews in their efforts to identify agents used in a biological attack.

Led by Richard Willson of the University of Houston, scientists from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Sandia National Laboratories in California have developed an ultrasensitive, all-in-one device that utilizes retroreflector tech-nology to quickly tell first re-sponders exactly which disease-causing microbe has been used in a bioterrorism attack.

“In the most likely kind of attack, large numbers of people would start getting sick with symptoms that could be from multiple infectious agents. But which one?” Willson said. “The availability of an instrument capable of detecting several agents simultaneously would greatly enhance our re-sponse to a possible bioterror attack or the emergence of a disease not often seen here.”Retroreflectors have been around for a long time and are ubiquitous

in things like street signs, safety vests and traffic lane markers. The Apollo 11 astronauts even left a retroreflector on the moon that is still used today as a laser-range finder.

Wilson and his colleagues have modified the retroreflectors by decreasing their size so that 200 of them would fit inside the period at the end of this sentence. These microfabricated retroreflec-tors were given a biochemical surface capable of detecting pathogens, essentially turning them into a mini lab-on-a-chip, with minute channels that can process small amounts of blood or other fluids. If a sample of blood or fluid is bacteria-free, the reflector shines brightly. A sample containing pathogens, however, blocks out some reflectors and makes them go dark. The advan-tages of this technology are many, with instant feedback, universal application, low cost and accuracy topping the list. Ultimately, it could help save lives.

Currently, the device can test on seven different “channels” at once, with each channel targeting a different type of disease. The researchers aim to continue

adding channels to making their retroreflectors a one-stop disease-testing tool.

Willson and his colleagues have proposed an alternative that could provide more immediate results and one that could be small enough to be carried by first responders or doctors.

The team is also modifying the technology for use in doctors’ offices and clinics where retrore-flectors could provide rapid, on-site diagnoses of common infectious diseases before patients leave, eliminating the wait for test results and expediting treatment.

The retroreflector device has already proven successful in identifying a bioterrorism threat that causes Mediterranean spotted fever, and more tests are soon to come.

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

6

UTEP researchers guarantee clean water with new filtering method

Many countries, including the U.S., use ground water as their primary drinking source. Unfortunately, ground water is susceptible to

contamination from leaking sewer lines and septic tanks, infiltration of surface water contaminated by human and animal wastes, and

careless disposal of septic waste. The pathogens and bacteria in contaminated drinking water can lead to hepatitis viruses and E. coli

bacteria, which pose serious health and financial costs.

Blocking transmission of these pathogens and bacteria to humans could significantly reduce disease outbreaks associated with

groundwater as well as alleviate concerns regarding bioterrorist threats to drinking water supplies. The Surfactant Modified Zeolite

(SMZ) filter is designed to do just that.

Developed by The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) researchers Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Robert Bowman and Natesh Pillai, the

SMZ filter provides an inexpensive and highly effective method to remove biological pathogens including bacteria, viruses and

parasitic protozoa from water.

The SMZ filter can be deployed in many different applications. Potable water filters, point of use water filters, water bottle filters or

filter packets that can be placed into a body of water such as a well or pond, are all potential uses. This highly flexible property makes

the SMZ filter ideal for areas that have multiple water sources in need of purification as well as regions where reliable access to

clean water is not available.

In addition to being extremely versatile, the SMZ filter is also inexpensive to produce at only about 50 cents per pound, and used for

any types of water ranging from drinking water to waste water. These properties, combined with the ability to manufacture in various

grain sizes to allow water to flow at reasonably fast discharge rates, makes the SMZ filter a prime choice for any application.

The SMZ filter has been tested in both laboratory and field experiments and has shown to be extremely efficient in removing

bacteria and viruses from water.

In field experiments on sewage water, the SMZ filter removed 100 percent of E. coli and more than 99.9 percent of the bacterio-

phages tested. After six months the removal efficiency for E. coli was still 100 percent.

The SMZ filter holds tremendous potential for ensuring clean water, essential to public health and society as a whole.

Theresa Shick-Johnson serves as the senior business analyst for the Office of Technology Commercialization. Her role is to collaborate with UT

System and UT institution professionals to develop and implement client relationship management, intellectual property and venture capital

software-based initiatives. She is responsible for the documentation of policies and procedures to ensure the operational quality of all aspects of the

database for education and communication with UT System staff, as well as the transition from legacy databases. She is the liaison between the

UT System’s Office of Technology Commercialization, the Office of Intellectual Property and the UT institution’s Office of Technology Commercializa-

tion, Office of Technology Management and Office of Research.

Prior to joining the Office of Technology Commercialization, Theresa was the senior program delivery specialist with the Office of Facilities Planning

and Construction within UT System. She created training documentation and initiatives to roll out the Capital Project and program management software system to the

program management staff. She created reports for management, accounting and coworkers that captured all aspects of the capital improvement project data specific to

each group to help manage individual sections as well as projects over all. She also provided technology and information control support to over 150 users. She

previously was the restaurant data administrator for the corporate office of Johnny Carino’s Italian helping to grow the brand from 15 corporate office restaurants to 150

corporate and franchise locations.

Theresa holds a BBA in Computer Information Services from Texas State University.

Horizon Fund team welcomes Theresa Shick-Johnson

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

7

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, the simplest of the alcohol molecules, is a significant component of bio-fuels and can be

burned in engines. It’s also an important chemical in the manufacturing of plastics, adhesives and solvents. Unfortunately, current

methods of producing methanol from CO2 involve large amounts of electricity, high pressures and temperatures, and toxic chemicals or

rare elements that are expensive and difficult to procure.

A better method, however, has arrived thanks to researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington. The new method produces

methanol from carbon dioxide. In addition to being cleaner, safer, less expensive, and simpler than current methods, it can be imple-

mented on an industrial scale that would allow electrical power plants emitting CO2 to recapture a portion of it and convert it back into

useful fuel.

Dr. Krishnan Rajeshwar, leader of the UT Arlington team believes their new process, which utilizes a photo-electrochemical version of the

photosynthesis that occurs in plants, is the answer to more cost-effective and environmentally friendly methanol production. Rajeshwar

and his colleagues’ technique involves coating copper oxide nanowires with another form of copper oxide and submerging them in a

carbon diozide solution. This array is then exposed to sunlight, which triggers a chemical reaction that produces methanol. The process is

about 95 percent efficient and avoids the overpotential, or use of excess energy, that current methods employ.

Dr. Rajeshwar believes the new method will be useful for creating fuel in remote areas that otherwise have limited access to fuel supply

on a regular basis. This method could be used in conjunction with traditional electrical power plants to boost their total output, reduce

CO2 pollution and convert the methanol into useable fuel.

“As long as we are using fossil fuels, we’ll have the question of what to do with the carbon dioxide,” said Rajeshwar. “An attractive

option would be to convert greenhouse gases to liquid fuel. That’s the value-added option.”

While current experiments have been done on a small scale, Rajeshwar and his fellow UT Arlington researchers aim to scale the

process up to create commercial products. They are currently raising funds to achieve their goal.

UT Arlington’s approach to methanol production is cost-effective, environmentally friendly

Pharma and San Antonio’s Cardiovate,

helped serve as the liaison to the UT

System Board of Regents on the

Technology Transfer and Research

Committee, created a search engine to

open access to UT’s technologies, patents

and research capabilities, and is now in

discussion to form a new entrepreneurial

academy called ‘StartUT’.

Effective May 10, 2013, the UT System

Office of Technology Commercialization

reports to Dr. Patricia Hurn, Vice Chancellor

of Research and Innovation who takes over

from former Vice Chancellor and General

Counsel Barry Burgdorf.

Dr. Hurn serves as the chief health research

officer to the UT System and its six

academic health center campuses. Her

focus is on building collaborative models of

bio-health research, creating innovative

science education programs and

constructing technological systems and

infrastructure for the mission of discovery.

In addition to her UT System leadership

role, Hurn is an active neuroscientist and

is internationally known for her work in

understanding the cellular and molecular

basis of gender differences in response to

experimental brain injury. Having a

background in research, Dr. Hurn

understands the importance of

commercializing new technologies.

“Research leads to discovery and new

knowledge and is absolutely essential for

its own sake and to the stature of our

institutions. But it is equally important to

turn some of that discovery, when

matured to the right level, into intellectual

property (IP) and companies destined to

develop that IP,” Dr. Hurn said.

“The benefits of commercialization extend

past research and into community,” Dr.

Hurn said. “We have a strong

responsibility to our community, our

students and patients to carry research to

this next step in what many refer to as the

‘discovery life cycle’. The Horizon Fund was

created to meet that responsibility and that

vision is evident in its investment design.”

Mr. Allinson added, “The new reporting

relationship, what I view as a partnership

with Dr. Hurn, will enable the UT System

to double its efforts on helping UT

institutions remove roadblocks, focus us

on the discovery to commercialization life

cycle and be sustainable.” He added,

“We are very excited about the structure

which has already paid immediate

dividends for the UT System OTC and the

UT Horizon Fund.”

A new partnership continued from page 3

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

8

Scaling down to keep up -- quantum dots boost future of mobile devices

TECH

NO

LOG

Y Sh

owca

se

Slimmer, sleeker, tinier, with increased, long-lasting functionality — that’s

the name of the game when it comes to the future of mobile device

design. But keeping up with these demands has its limitations. And time

is running out.

While this new flash memory technology is still in its proof of concept stage, all signs point to commercializa-

tion. When you consider the world’s estimated six billion cell phone subscribers, according to a recent United

Nations study, and sale of tens of millions of MP3 players and digital cameras each year (both slowly being

taken over by smartphones), this new technology will arrive none too soon. In fact, it would be easier to

identify people who won’t be using this technology than it would be to define its target market.

While cell phones, digital cameras and MP3 players are some of the most widely used consumer items that

will benefit from this technology, literally any electronic device that uses flash memory has the potential to be

enhanced. For example, image acquisition and semiconductor laser technologies would benefit from higher

resolution that the quantum dot array can provide.

Perhaps the most important benefit this technology provides is making electronic mobile devices more

accessible to those who cannot afford or do not have reliable access to power. Because faster, more efficient

devices require less time plugging in and charging up, more people will be able to connect, play, learn, see and

do more.

T H E T E C H :

T H E TA R G E T:

Cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and the like

use non-volatile flash memory — electronically

erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)

that maintains stored information without requiring a

power source. But loading up ever-shrinking devices

with more and more features requires more power. The

problem is that current flash memory technology,

specifically its fabrication and materials, is reaching the

limits of its ability to shrink down to the size needed to

keep pace with evolving technology.

Striking a balance between flash memory technology

and future mobile device design has been a constant

struggle for engineers. But researchers at The

University of Texas at Austin, Department of Electrical

and Computer Engineering Microelectronics Research

Center may have the answer.

Through the use of new materials, UT Austin

researchers can continue to scale down flash memory

to meet lower power demands. A new design featuring

an array of quantum dots — tiny or nanosized semicon-

ductors — combined with a new tunneling layer

material enables flash memory devices to use very low

amounts of power while being able to store data

without significant levels of leakage.

The new channel material and new channel design also

reduce the energy required for programming. The

combined result is a new flash memory cell capable of

fast programming under low voltage and/or low power

operating conditions with a much lower failure rate.

H O R I Z O N SH O R I Z O N S

9

UT MD Anderson researcher invents method to make sure that sterile surgical tools stay clean

Medical devices such as urinary catheters, endotracheal tubes and central

venous catheters are the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections in

high-risk patients. Data shows that 300,000 cases of nosocomial (hospital-

acquired) pneumonias occur annually in the U.S. Dr. Issam Raad of UT MD

Anderson may have found a solution.

Almost 50 million surgeries are performed in the U.S. every year. The amount of people that could benefit from Dr.

Raad and his fellow researchers’ innovation is significant. In addition to benefit surgical patients, antimicrobial coating

could be instrumental in saving the lives of people in developing countries. Doctors concerned about performing

procedures in an unsterile environment now have an effective method to prevent infection.

Dr. Raad’s team has developed 33 issued inventions, with 16 additional patents. These include vascular catheters,

urinary catheters and endotracheal tubes.

T H E TA R G E T:

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Office of Technology Commercializationwww.utsystem.edu/technology-commercialization

Engaging our community

UT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER – TYLER ON TWITTER: @UTHSCT

Lawmakers are debating state funding of cancer

research, $37 million of which UTHSCT

receives annually

UT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER – HOUSTONON TWITTER: @UThealth

Doctors at UT Health propose a study to evaluate

the treatment of traumatic head injuries, as current

treatments have a fatality rate of up to 70%

UT PERMIAN BASINON TWITTER: @utpb

UTPB Women’s basketball team are once again the

Hearthland Conference champions and are ranked

#5 in the NCAA South Central region

UT MD ANDERSONON TWITTER: @MDAndersonNews

UT MD Anderson doctors find that cancer vaccinations

actually sabotage the immune system, causing T cells

to attack the vaccination site, not the tumors

UT EL PASOON TWITTER: @utepnews

High-performance computing gets a new home in

West Texas as the Research and Academic Data

Center moves into its new home at UTEP

UT BROWNSVILLEON TWITTER: @UTBrownsville

Support continues to grow in the legislature to open

the Permanent University Fund endowment to UT

Brownsville and UT Pan American

UT AUSTINON TWITTER: @UTAustin

The University of Texas at Austin has been ranked 27th

in the 2013 Times Higher Education World Rankings- a

five-point climb from its 32nd ranking in 2012

UT SAN ANTONIOON TWITTER: @UTSanantonio

The UTSA Honors College raised $161,765 for

student scholarships, research stipends and other

applications at the 2013 Great Conversation!

UT ARLINGTONON TWITTER: @UTArlington

UTA receives $7.5 million donation from Japan-

based Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, the largest

philanthropic donation in the history of the university

UT MEDICAL BRANCH – GALVESTONON TWITTER: @UTMB_news

An FDA-approved drug intended to treat insulin

resistance in diabetics has been shown to improve

memory in people with Alzheimer’s disease

UT TYLER ON TWITTER: @UTTyler

UT Tyler biology department awarded $70,000 from

the Texas Parks and Wildlife department to study

endangered species of mussels in Texas

UT DALLAS ON TWITTER: @UT_Dallas

UTD’s 12th annual ChessFest allows students to play

against two blindfolded grandmasters (the highest

ranking possible) from the UTD chess team

UT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER – SAN ANTONIO ON TWITTER: @uthscsa

UTHSCSA researchers discover a link between insulin

sensitivity and cells’ energy sources, a link that could

one day be exploited to treat type 2 diabetes

UT PAN AMERICANON TWITTER: @UTPA

UTPA’s College of Health Sciences and Human Services

looks to engage the community by distributing health

education material at public gatherings

UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTERON TWITTER: @UTSWnews

A study led by UTSW professor Beth Levine shows

that augmenting the body’s innate ability to rid itself

of cell waste could defend against West Nile

Keeping the UT System community

and followers around the world

current on the exciting developments

and research coming out of the

UT System is easy, thanks to Twitter.

In 140 characters or less, all 15

UT institutions, as well as UT System,

are using the Twittersphere to

communicate everything from clinical

trial progression and new venture

funding to academic recognition and

events.

The UT System on twitter.com/UTInnovations

UT SYSTEMON TWITTER: @UTsystem

#UTSystem regents approve guiding principles for

new university in the RGV. #ProjectSouthTX