Science and Enterprise

Month: March 2012

  • Grant to Fund Electric Power Market Optimization Research

    Iowa State University in Ames says three of its engineering faculty will receive $1.7 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to study new ways of scheduling and pricing electric power. ISU is the lead institution in a $3 million project involving Sandia National Laboratories, University of California at Davis, power grid systems company Alstom…

  • Clinical Trial to Test Electronic Tinnitus Treatment

    A clinical trial in the U.K. will test a miniature electronic device that aims to reset neurological patterns causing tinnitus, a debilitating hearing disorder. The Acoustic CR Neuroodulation device to be tested was developed by Adaptive Neuromodulation GmbH in Cologne, Germany. Tinnitus is a condition characterized by a constant sound pattern in the ears, like…

  • U.S. Patent Awarded for Airborne Pathogen Diagnostic Device

    PositiveID Corporation in Delray Beach, Florida says it has received a patent on a key element of its technology to test for airborne bacteria and viruses and deliver results within 30 minutes. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent no. 8,133,451 for the technology on 13 March 2012 and assigned it to Microfluidics Systems,…

  • Unilever Launches Open Innovation Initiative

    The consumer goods manufacturer Unilever unveiled today its open innovation program seeking ideas for new products and technologies from the public at large. The initiative is managed by the online intellectual property marketplace yet2.com. Unilever’s program is structured around a set of issues or problems for which it seeks collaborators to find solutions. The opening…

  • Agilent to Develop Salmonella, Fish Species Tests for FDA

    Agilent Technologies Inc. in Santa Clara, California, a developer of instrumentation for chemical and life science analysis, unveiled its agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to develop new tests for the agency’s regulation of food. One set of tests for FDA will identify salmonella more precisely, while a different test suite will use…

  • Air Pollutants Found Near Hydraulic Fracturing Gas Wells

    Research conducted at the University of Colorado School of Public Health in Denver indicates the natural gas drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking may be causing the release of toxic chemicals in the air near drilling sites. The findings of Lisa McKenzie, a Colorado public health research associate, and colleagues have been accepted…

  • European Autism Research Consortium Launched

    An international coalition of pharmaceutical companies, universities, and advocacy organizations aims to discover new drugs to battle autism spectrum disorder, a collection of conditions affecting social interaction and communication. The project known as European Autism Interventions: A Multicentre Study for Developing New Medications (EU-AIMS) is considered the largest single grant for autism research in the…

  • Osteoporosis Drug Developer Secures $28M in Series B Round

    Tarsa Therapeutics Inc., a Philadelphia-based developer of drugs to treat osteoporosis, has completed $28 million in new series B financing, the second round of funding after initial start-up. The financing package, announced on Friday, is led by a new investor in the company, Foresite Capital. The funding is expected to support the next commercialization and…

  • Start-Up Licenses Univ. of Colorado 3-D Imaging Technology

    University of Colorado in Boulder has licensed an advanced imaging technology developed in its engineering labs to a start-up company founded by the technology’s inventor. Double Helix LLC, also of Boulder and founded by engineering professor Rafael Piestun, has negotiated an exclusive license to commercialize the technology from the university’s technology transfer office. Piestun developed…

  • Pennsylvania Awards Five University Commercialization Grants

    Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development approved $3.15 million for five grants to support research and development in nanotechnology and advanced materials. The grants were made through the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority’s University Research Commercialization Program  that aims to build stronger synergies between university-based research and technology transfer. The Ben Franklin Technology Partners…