On November 16, 2007, The FSU Office of Research held its Third Annual Innovator Awards Reception at the University Center Club immediately following the Office of IP Development and Commercialization Fall 2007 Workshop. The reception was attended by approximately 70 faculty, staff and students as well as business leaders from the Economic Development Council, Vision 2020 and other area businesses. The purpose of the evening was to recognize members from the FSU community who have contributed during the past year to the intellectual property portfolio of the University.

John Fraser, Executive Director of Office of IP Development and Commercialization, started the evening off by giving presentation about the technology transfer process. Kirby Kemper, Vice President for Research, presented with a Galileo Thermometer as a token of recognition to the principal investigators who have either had their work commercially licensed or have been awarded a GAP Grant during the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

Additionally, principal investigators who submitted an invention or work disclosure, had a US patent application filed, and/or had a US patent issue during the 2006-2007 fiscal year were recognized and presented with a laminated honor roll listing their names and achievements.

• Fraser Presentation
• 2007 Innovators
  • Licenses
  • GAP Recipients
• 2007 Patent Honor Roll
• 2007 Patent Application Honor Roll
• 2007 Disclosure Honor Roll
• Photo Gallery

2007 INNOVATORS

Michael Barker (Computer Science) Advanced Group Management Software code license to Blackboard for management group systems. BlackBoard is a provider of products that enable universities, schools, and corp2007orations to host their classes on the World Wide Web.

Michael Blaber (College of Medicine) – Development of Mutant Fibroblast Growth Factor Dr. Michael Blaber is creating mutant forms of the fibroblast growth factor FGF1, which has been shown to develop new blood vessels. This discovery could have significant implications in cardiovascular treatments, where injection of FGF1 into patients with coronary heart disease results in new blood vessel formation and increased blood supply to damaged tissue.

James Brooks (National High Magnetic Field Laboratory) – Electromagnetic Resonant Analysis of Sealed Metal Shipping Containers Dr. James Brooks is developing a method of analyzing shipping container contents as they are moved from ship to shore. This technology is based on the natural electromagnetic resonance of enclosed metal containers there therefore does not use harmful x-rays or gamma ray beams. This method of securing container cargo could make a significant impact on the multi-billion dollar container shipping industry.

Michael Davidson (National High Magnetic Field Lab) Website Design Mike Davidson and his team was asked to build a new website for the Optical Society of America that will serve as a new educational resource tool in the science of optics and photonics. The underlying site which is the basis for the new webpage is one of the top science websites on the web and won a Webby award in 2001.

Janet Dilling (Center for Disaster Risk Policy) – Tabletop Exercise System Technology TEST is a unique team simulation software program tool that was created by a team of researchers in the Center for Disaster Risk Policy led by Janet Dilling. This tool allows disaster response professionals and teams to simulate disasters and how to respond to them, accommodating large audiences and a wide range of clients and situations.

Gregory Dudley (Chemistry and Biochemistry) – Compounds and Methods of Benzylation Dr. Dudley developed a bench-stable reagent for the benzylation of alcohols under neutral conditions. The reagent allows for formation of ethers and protection of alcohols during chemical synthesis typically used in the creation of pharmaceutical compounds.

Tom Kelley (Criminology – PC Campus) Underwater Crime Scene Investigation Manual Dr. Kelley created a manual that reinforces the scientific approach to underwater investigation for use in law enforcement and academic courses. The manual is the first of its kind in the underwater forensic world, as no such scientific methodology previously existed. The UCSI team has conducted numerous investigations in cooperation with law enforcement and other agencies within the U.S. and abroad that have successfully proven the manual’s utility.

David LaHart (Energy and Environmental Alliance at FREAC) CLASP Books License renewal for the CLASP (Children's Language Arts & Science Project) books from FREAC, an FSU institution which conducts research in resource management and environmental analysis and provides advice and technical assistance to state and local agencies.

Christine Koontz (Information Science) – Telephone Survey Questionnaire Dr. Koontz developed an Internet based map database of 16,000 public library locations, relevant US Census data, and library use data. This database has applications as a planning tool for librarians, public library researchers and policymakers as well as a research tool for national and local policy and research issues.

Teng Ma (Chemical Engineering) – Bioreactor for Stem Cell Cultivation Dr. Ma is developing a perfusion bioreactor which mimics conditions encountered by adult stem cells within the human body. The bioreactor represents a dramatic step forward in cultivating greater stem cell density and improving stem cell viability. It also allows for the automation of many steps in the cell culture process including seeding, harvesting and transport.

Kamal Tawfiq (Civil and Environmental Engineering) – Video Borescope Dr. Tawfiq developed a method for visual inspection of the interior surface of a borehole. Through a portable camera and light source lowered into the borehole, images are generated and displayed on a monitor receiving signals from the camera.

Florida State University Research Foundation GAP Program

Michael Burmester (Computer Science) Lightweight, Secure Radio Frequency Identification Devices By adding security logic in the RFID response circuit, these devices can be made much more secure than those in use today, encouraging RFID use for high value or high security risk objects.

Timothy Cross (National High Magnetic Field Laboratory) Structure Function Studies of Membrane Proteins by Solid State NMR Development of a system that uses NMR spectroscopy to screen libraries of proteins to identify those that bind to insoluble membrane proteins, which cannot be analyzed using conventional SAR techniques.

Teng Ma (Chemical Engineering) Bioreactor for Stem Cell Cultivation Development of a bioreactor that mimics conditions encountered by adult stem cells in the human body. This platform allows significantly greater cell densities to be achieved than any previously available technology. Thus increasing the number of stem cells that can be produced in a given time frame.

Hengli Tang (Biological Science) A Novel Cell-Based Assay for Screening Anti-HCV Drug Development of a novel cell-based assay for screening antiviral drugs against the hepatitis C virus (HCV). This system will provide the HCV research and development community with a simple yet powerful tool that can greatly enhance the drug screening capabilities of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

A Small Interfering RNA as a Potent Inhibitor of Diverse Strains of HCV Development of a novel treatment for hepatitis C (HCV) that is aimed at effectively preventing viral replication through host cells.

Gary Tyson (Computer Science) Using an Instruction Registry File to Reduce Costs and to Improve Security for Imbedded Processors By extending the architecture of a CPU to use cached instructions, and by providing novel ways to control cache content, the authors have concurrently reduced power requirements, decreased code size, improved performance, and enhanced security for special purp2007ose computers, like those used in cell phones.