The Boulder Innovation Center maintains a collaborative relationship with the University of Colorado’s Technology Transfer Office. As a commercialization partner, the Boulder Innovation Center works to enhance and promote the value of research and development that continually occurs at the University of Colorado. Through its extensive network of advisors, the Boulder Innovation Center links University of Colorado to advisors with expertise in science and technology business development.
If you are interested in becoming involved with university technology commercialization projects, please visit the Advisor section of our website.
The following is a selection of present and past Boulder Innovation Center –University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office collaborations
Current Projects
Software
Natural Language Processing Quality and Data Extraction
The Boulder Innovation Center facilitated technology commercialization studies and identified the potential of commercialization through an arrangement made with a University of Colorado’s MBA business planning class. Additionally, the Boulder Innovation Center provided appropriate advisors and market advice.
Nanotechnology
Semiconductor Cooling
The Boulder Innovation Center is leading commercial feasibility studies for an innovative chip cooling technology. This technology will allow next generation computer chips to run faster on less power.
Bioscience
Thiol-ene Hydrogels
The Boulder Innovation Center held a working session to introduce a long-term, sustained drug delivery technology to the local entrepreneurial community. Working groups are being formed to explore the commercial viability of the technology.
A breakthrough in the field of tissue engineering, PEG-hydrogel technology, based on thiol-ene chemistry, allows for localized drug delivery. This technology promises new and more effective methods for long-term drug delivery. The thiol-ene hydrogel developed at the University of Colorado provides greater plasticity – the attaching and controlled delivery of therapeutic compounds to localized sites. Thiol-ene hydrogels can be formed in-situ, act as a drug reservoir, and slowly release therapeutics in a controlled manner over long periods. The potential for drug delivery is not limited to traditional pharmaceutical compounds. Peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, and of therapeutic DNA and RNA can also be delivered through this exciting new method.
Boulder Innovation Center Advisors, the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office and the staff of the Boulder Innovation Center are exploring the possibility of a possible start-up based on the thiol-ene hydrogel technology.
BioServe Space Technologies
The BioServe Space Technology Department at the University of Colorado works closely with NASA to conduct experiments in zero gravity environments. The Boulder Innovation Center is assisting the BioServe Department in commercializing an innovative, non-invasive mouse hind limb force output measuring device. This device will be highly useful in many medical testing applications, including drug reactions, outcomes, and side effects.
The Boulder Innovation Center is conducting exploratory meetings with the BioServe Department and the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office to commercialize this technology. The Boulder Innovation Center is helping to locate interested, qualified commercialization partners.
Synthesis of Mixed Sequence Borane Phosphonate (B-P) DNA
Scientists at the University of Colorado have discovered a new and highly useful method of synthesis of B-P DNA. It allows the researcher to create any combination of the four 2-deoxynucleosides, and mimics natural DNA in many biological processes. It has applications in many areas, including:
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Therapeutic applications as an antisense drug
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Use in aptamer selection
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Therapeutic applications as a reagent useful in neutron capture therapy
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Various diagnostic applications in human medicine
Benefits of this technology are that it is high yield, high purity and can be used to sequence virtually any combination of the four common bases with several types of linkages.
The Boulder Innovation Center is helping the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office commercialize this technology and formulate plans for additional research.
BioServe’s CSI for kids – A K-12 Educational program
BioServe Space Technologies is a non-profit, NASA-sponsored Research Partnership Center (RPC) located at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. The objective of the CSI for Kids program is education. The program consists of small education experiments and ecosystems habitats that will be processed aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The experiment packages and habitats are instrumented and imaged and the data is passed to the ground in near real-time. This down-linked data is then provided to participating classrooms (primarily middle schools) throughout the country via the internet. Each CSI experiment is designed to interest middle school students in science, technology, engineering and math by providing the opportunity for students to participate in near real-time research conducted on board the ISS. To date, the program has reach over 10,000 students, with an additional 10,000 students participating in the ‘07-‘08 school year.
The Boulder Innovation Center is forming an Advisor team to create a commercialization strategy for the CSI Program.
Engraftment and Survival of Adult Skeletal Muscle Cells
The Boulder Innovation Center is working with University of Colorado faculty to understand the commercial potential of using stem cells to re-grow damaged muscle tissue.
This new technology identifies and isolates muscle stem cells. Skeletal muscle contains stem cells capable of participating in muscle repair and this technology only requires transfer of as few as 30-100 stem cells for muscle repair. Studies have demonstrated a 1.5-1.8 fold increase in muscle mass, with this muscle mass increase persisting for at least eighteen months. There are many potential applications of this technology, including treatment of muscular dystrophies, repair of severe muscle injury, urinary incontinence, and sarcopenia.
The Boulder Innovation Center will facilitate small group meetings as a preliminary path to commercialize this technology.
Detection of DNA Hybridization Using Liquid Crystals
New developments in liquid crystal technology allows for detection of the hybridization of nucleic acids without the need for complex diagnostic equipment. Expensive equipment is not needed and thus would permit the adaptation for use in home-, point-of-care-, or field-based assays.
The bulk reorientation of liquid crystals in response to the DNA hybridization reaction generates an optical signal that can be used to detect hybridization. University of Colorado researchers have demonstrated that the technology can differentiate a one base pair mismatch in a 16mer target at a sensitivity of 50 fmol.
The Boulder Innovation Center is forming an advisor team to determine the next steps for the technology and develop a commercialization strategy.
Past Projects
Locomotion
Locomotion developed a new physical therapy device called the External Swing Assist (ESA). This product is based upon patented technology developed at the University of Colorado and addresses a critical need related to walking therapy for brain injury and stroke patients. Current treadmill-based systems require the hands-on involvement of as many as three different physical therapists to manually drive a patient's walking motion. The ESA eliminates the need for two of the three therapists, thereby generating significant cost savings.
The Boulder Innovation Center staff worked with Locomotion to develop a business plan, recruit an initial management team, and apply for a Proof-of-Concept grant from the University's Tech Transfer Office.
Mentor InterActive
Mentor InterActive is a software company dedicated to creating innovative solutions that help children learn to read. Mentor is developing an interactive "edutainment" program based on the highly acclaimed Foundations to Literacy (FtL) learning tools that were developed by CU's Center for Spoken Language Research. The Company's products combine scientifically proven literacy teaching methods, leading speech recognition technology, and a lifelike 3-D animated tutor to provide individualized instruction that is specific to the abilities of each learner.
The Boulder Innovation Center identified two individuals who are now part of the Mentor InterActive management team and supported the Proof-of-Concept investment application process resulting in a $100,000 Proof-of-Concept investment from the CU Technology Transfer Office in the fall of 2006.
www.mentorinteractiveinc.com
Center for Spoken Language Research (CSLR)
The Center for Spoken Language Research is a University of Colorado Laboratory that conducts research into spoken language, focusing on voice recognition and natural language processing. Natural Language Processing (NLP) can be used to automatically summarize large amounts of data, answer questions, extract useful information from vast amounts of unstructured data, and conduct sentiment and/or customer analyses. NLP is increasingly used to capture, categorize, and catalog the data being generated on the Internet.
The Boulder Innovation Center staff worked with the CSLR and local entrepreneurs to incorporate the lab's world-class NLP tools into products and to launch new companies based upon those tools.
Craft Technology Lab
The Craft Technology Laboratory is a University of Colorado facility that uses traditional crafts to teach math and science concepts. Researchers have developed advanced computer-based versions of origami, laser-guided modeling, and clothing that incorporates LEDs and computer chips directly into the material.
The Boulder Innovation Center and laboratory staff collaborated to formulate a strategy for commercializing these technologies.