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Michigan State Forms Subsidiary to Encourage Start-Ups
Michigan State University in East Lansing has formed a subsidiary of its MSU Foundation to help faculty and students turn their research discoveries into operating businesses. Spartan Innovations LLC will be part of the university’s Innovation Center located adjacent to the campus. Spartan Innovations is expected to tap into a $350 million capital fund from…
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Biotech Licenses Brain-Nervous System Treatment Technology
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel says it has licensed a technology from its labs that crosses the blood-brain barrier to deliver drugs for treating disorders of the brain and central nervous system. The V-Smart technology, as its called, was licensed exclusively to Lauren Sciences LLC, a privately held biotechnology company in New York.…
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IBM, Universities Form Canadian Research Center
IBM Corporation is establishing a new research and development center in Barrie, Ontario, part of a $210 million technology initiative involving research universities in the province. The plan calls for investments of $175 million by IBM, $20 million by the government of Canada, and $15 million by the Ontario government, with the creation of 145…
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Companies Join Stanford/Berkeley Open Networking Consortium
Twelve companies in software, mobile computing, semiconductors, and IT equipment have joined with research groups at Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley to explore software-defined networking as a new paradigm in networking. The aim of the Open Networking Research Center (ONRC) is to develop the intellectual foundations of software-defined networking in order to…
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DuPont Expanding Iowa Agriculture R&D Center
DuPont Corporation says it will add a $40 million plant genetics research center to its current facilities in Johnston, Iowa. The 200,000 square foot center is expected to add some 400 jobs. The new facility will be part of DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred business, a subsidiary developing seeds through plant genetics. Johnston is located northwest of…
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Merck Investing in Life Sciences Venture Fund
Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, Massachusetts says Merck’s venture arm has joined in a recent investment fund backing start-up life sciences companies. The amount of the investment, which was not disclosed, was made by Merck’s Research Ventures Fund in Flagship Ventures Fund IV that closed in January. Flagship says its Ventures Fund IV will be devoted…
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Graphene Materials Faster, Cheaper at Cooling Electronics
A materials scientist at North Carolina State University in Durham has created a new way of cooling high-temperature electronic devices with composites made of graphene. The work of Jag Kasichainula, a professor of materials science and engineering at NC State, appears in the journal Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B (paid subscription required). Graphene is a…
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Undergrad Engineers Design Improved Neck Stabilizer Brace
A team of mechanical and biomedical engineering students at Rice University in Houston, all undergraduates, have devised a prototype cervical collar that they say improves on neck braces now in use. The Rice team, called CivSAFE, is one of 10 finalists in the Innovation Showcase (iShow), a student engineering design competition held in Montreal in…
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Venture Funds in U.S., Europe Raise More Cash in Q1
More venture capital (VC) funds in the U.S. successfully hit their fund-raising targets in the first quarter of 2012, and like their counterparts in Europe, raised more cash in the process, according to Dow Jones LP Source, a financial industry research service. Tracking VC fund-raising offers an early indicator of investment money for start-up companies…
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FDA Approves Brain Imaging Agent for Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Amyvid, a radioactive diagnostic agent made by its subsidiary Avid Radiopharmaceuticals. Amyvid is designed to work with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans to reveal beta-amyloid plaques in patients with suspected cognitive impairment disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Amyvid is…