Tech Transfer reports record number of invention disclosures

Eric Maslowski, (left) a research computer specialist, and Klaus-Peter Beier, director of the 3D Lab at the College of Engineering, demonstrate a 3-D application for use in the interactive virtual program 'Second Life.' (Photo by Jillian Bogater)

University researchers disclosed 329 new inventions in Fiscal Year 2007, an all-time high and a 14-percent increase over the previous year.

Results also included 144 U.S. patent applications and 87 issued patents. Royalty revenues increased approximately 20 percent to nearly $13 million, providing a source for continued reinvestment that will strengthen future interactions with industry.

U-M negotiated 91 technology agreements, including seven with new business startups in FY 2007, which ended June 30. The total number of U-M startups over the last seven years is 62.

More than 60 percent of the new businesses are located in Michigan, primarily in the greater Ann Arbor area, says Ken Nisbet, executive director of Tech Transfer.

"This is another example of the people and resources of the University of Michigan playing a significant role in the transformation of our Michigan economy and enhancing our global quality of life," Nisbet says.

Recent U-M inventions will be highlighted at the annual Celebrate Invention reception, 3-6 p.m. Oct. 3 in the Michigan League Ballroom, 911 N. University Ave., on the U-M Central Campus.

It recognizes U-M researchers who made a technology disclosure, were awarded a patent or participated in a license agreement in FY 2007.

"The quality and breadth of research and development at the University of Michigan are vital assets to our region and our state," says Stephen Forrest, vice president for research.

"We are pleased to honor our inventors at this annual event, while bringing together our valued business and community partners to celebrate and explore our next set of innovation initiatives," he says.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, go to www.techtransfer.umich.edu.

Eight inventor groups will present their work. One such inventor is Klaus-Peter Beier, director of the 3D Lab. The lab recently developed a 3-D viewer for Second Life, a multi-user online game that claims more than 9 million "residents" worldwide.

Wearing inexpensive glasses, visitors to the Second Life virtual world see objects pop out of their computer screens as if they were watching a 3-D movie.

"You put these colored glasses on and watch it on your laptop in stereo and navigate through the three-dimensional world," Beier says.

In recent years, the U-M 3D Lab has also invented, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a Virtual Disaster Simulator that trains first responders arriving at the scene of a virtual bomb explosion. With the U.S. Coast Guard, the lab created a Virtual Jet Ski Driving Simulator that allows authorities to simulate personal-watercraft accidents in order to better understand their causes and, hopefully, reduce their occurrence.

U-M inventors scheduled for the Oct. 3 reception include:

• Civil engineer Jerome Lynch, who developed a new paint-on "skin" for bridges, buildings and airplanes that can help inspectors detect cracks and corrosion.

• Ravi Birla, director of the Artificial Heart Laboratory. Last December, Birla and colleague Yen-Chih Huang published a journal article describing their success in growing pulsing, three-dimensional patches of bioengineered heart muscle. Some day, heart attack survivors might have a patch of laboratory-grown muscle placed in their heart to replace tissue that died during the attack.

• Susan Brown, director of the Motor Control Lab at the Division of Kinesiology. She helped create ULTrA, the Upper Limb Training and Assessment program. It's designed to help adult cerebral palsy patients who have upper limb and hand impairments.

Additional presenters include David Sherman of the Life Sciences Institute, engineer Brian Gilchrist, architect Harry Giles and engineer Alec Gallimore.