Tag: entrepreneurs
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Algorithms Devised to Aid Inspections of Mines on Ship Hulls
Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have written algorithms that help underwater robots inspect the hulls of ships for mines as small as an iPod. The findings of mechanical engineering professor Franz Hover and Ph.D. candidate Brendan Englot will appear in a future issue of International Journal of Robotics Research. The algorithms help guide a…
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Report: Business Research Funding Decline Impacts Innovation
A new report from the National Science Board, the governing body of the National Science Foundation, says declines in business R&D investment over the past decade, particularly during the recession of 2008-2009, are taking a toll on American innovation. The report, Research & Development, Innovation, and the Science and Engineering Workforce, also notes that reductions…
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Grant to Fund New Drought-Resistant Biofuel Grasses
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis has received a $12.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a more drought-resistant type of grass that can be processed into biofuels. The five-year award will be shared by collaborators at Carnegie Institution for Science, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, University of…
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Researcher Writes Anti-Data Theft Software for Smartphones
A computer scientist at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany (English translation by EurekAlert) has written an application to prevent the theft of data from Android smartphones. The app was written by computer science professor Michael Backes, pictured right, who chairs the university’s Center for IT-Security, Privacy and Accountability, and who has also started a company…
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Memory Device Maker Secures $12.5 Million Venture Loan
Avalanche Technology, a developer of digital memory devices in Fremont, California has received a $12.5 million loan from Horizon Technology Finance Corporation in Farmington, Connecticut. Horizon Technology Finance calls the deal a venture loan, since the debt is secured by earlier venture capital and private equity financing. The funding is expected to support Avalanche Technology’s…
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Univ. Start-Up Developing High-Energy Light for Microchips
Engineers in a University of Washington fusion-energy lab have started a new company that aims to apply their discoveries to the semiconductor industry. Uri Shumlak, an aeronautics and astronautics professor, and research associate professor Brian Nelson are applying their research on high-energy plasma light from fusion reactors to meet a high-priority need of microchip developers.…
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Robot Recommends and Plays Music Based on Listener Feedback
A robotic device developed at Georgia Institute of Technology, and licensed to a start-up company in Atlanta, can recommend songs based on listeners’ tastes, and even dance to the music selected. Shimi, a musical companion derived from technology developed at Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, is expected to be demonstrated today at Google’s I/O…
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Device Maker Teleflex Acquires Biomedical Materials Company
Teleflex Inc., a medical device provider in Limerick, Pennsylvania, has acquired Semprus BioSciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a developer of coatings for medical implants. The deal has an immediate value of $30 million. Teleflex is a manufacturer of medical devices for vascular access, including catheters and dialysis access products. The company also develops devices for regional…
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Report: Foreign Scientists Key to U.S. Innovation, Patents
A new report on the impact of immigration on innovation in the U.S. says researchers from overseas account for a large majority of the patents granted to inventors from top research universities, particularly in high-growth science and engineering fields. The report, “Patent Pending: How Immigrants Are Reinventing The American Economy,” was prepared by the Partnership…
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Merck Serono, Compugen to Form Toxicity Biomarkers Start-Up
Merck Serono, a division of the global pharmaceutical company Merck in Geneva, Switzerland and the drug discovery company Compugen in Tel Aviv, Israel have agreed to form Neviah Genomics, a new enterprise to develop biomarkers for the prediction of drug-induced toxicity. While some financial arrangements were revealed, the total value of the deal was not…