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UB to honor faculty scholars, inventors and entrepreneurs
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
UB will recognize the research and commercialization achievements of faculty members today at the annual Scholars, Inventors and Entrepreneurs Reception, to be held from 4-6 p.m. in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.
The reception will honor faculty members in the categories of Exceptional Scholars, U.S. Patents, Faculty Entrepreneurs and Licenses to Industrial Partners.
The university also will honor three companies that joined the UB Technology Incubator program in 2006, and two companies that graduated from the program last year. The new companies are Newton LED Inc., which specializes in the research, development and use of LEDs in outdoor signs; Numitec LLC, which provides credit-reporting systems and services for commercial credit interchange groups; and Trek Inc., which designs and manufactures high-performance electrostatic measurement instruments, sensors and monitors, and high-voltage amplifers, power supplies and generators. Graduates are Aquasol Corp., which develops products that enhance welding efficiency, and Technicor Inc., which specializes in the development of proprietary systems for the packaging and handling of fluids for application in the biomedical marketplace.
The reception is being hosted by Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs; Jorge José, vice president for research; and the UB Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR).
The Exceptional Scholars Award honors faculty members for their outstanding research performance at different stages in their career.
Recipients of Exceptional Scholars Sustained Achievement Awards are Michel Bruneau, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; G. Lawrence Sanders, Department of Management Science and Systems, School of Management; and James Olson, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Recipients of the Young Investigator Award are Christina Tsai, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, SEAS; Tony Tong, Department of Operations Management and Strategy, SOM; and Jochen Autschbach, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences.
Deborah Waldrop, School of Social Work, is the recipient of a Teaching Innovation Award.
The following faculty members are being recognized for being named on U.S. patents awarded to the SUNY Research Foundation in 2006:
Michael R. Detty and Sandra O. Gollnick, Department of Chemistry, CAS; Allan Oseroff, Department of Dermatology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute; Sherry Davies, formerly of the Department of Dermatology, RPCI; and Masako Abe and David Hilmey, formerly of the Department of Chemistry, patent 6,984,656, Core Modified Porphyrins.
Hiroaki Suga, Dimitrios Kourouklis, Hirohide Saito, Nick Lee and Neil Bonzagni, all formerly of the Department of Chemistry, patent 7,001,723, Catalytic RNAs with Aminoacylation Activity.
David G. Hangauer, Department of Chemistry, and Moustafa E. El-Araby and Karen L. Milkiewicz, formerly of the Department of Chemistry, patent 7,005,445, Protein Kinase and Phosphatase Inhibitors and Methods for Designing Them.
Bradley P. Fuhrman and Mark S. Dowhy, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, patent 7,007,693, Device and Method of Reducing Bias Flow in Oscillatory Ventilators.
Paschalis Alexandridis and Sriram Neelamegham, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, SEAS; patent 7,008,797, Recovery of Liquids from Absorbent Packaging Materials.
Troy Wood, Department of Chemistry, and Douglas R. Smith, formerly of the Department of Chemistry, patent 7,014,880, Process of Vacuum Evaporation of an Electrically Conductive Material for Nanoelectrospray Emitter Coatings.
Huw M.L. Davies, Department of Chemistry, patent 7,030,051, Dirhodium Catalyst Compositions and Methods for Using Same.
David G. Hangauer, Department of Chemistry, and Thomas H. Marsilje and Karen L. Milkiewicz, both formerly of the Department of Chemistry, patent 7,070,936, Method for Designing Protein Kinase Inhibitors.
David G. Hangauer, Department of Chemistry, and Steven C. Pruitt, Carleton C. Stewart and Lawrence M. Mielnicki, all of RPCI, patent 7,083,919, High Throughput Assay for Identification of Gene Expression Modifiers.
Joseph Mollendorf, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, SEAS, and the Center for Research and Education in Special Environments (CRESE), School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; David Pendergast, Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Eric Stimson, CRESE; and Erik Bardy, Sawson Samimy, Colin Dauria and Raymond Buchner, all formerly of CRESE, patent 7,101,607, Process for Enhancing Material Properties and Materials So Enhanced.
Huw M.L. Davies, Department of Chemistry, patent 7,109,343, Metal Catalysts and Methods for Making and Using Same.
Frederick Sachs and Thomas Suchyna, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, patent 7,125,847, Mechanically Activated Channel Blocker.
Thomas Szyperski, Department of Chemistry, patent 7,141,432, Method of Using Reduced Dimensionality Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Rapid Chemical Shift Assignment and Secondary Structure Determination of Proteins.
Tarunraj Singh, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, patent 7,152,083, Jerk Limited Time Delay Filter.
The following faculty members invented technologies that were licensed to an industrial partner in 2006:
Kris Schindler and Michael Buckley, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SEAS, developed Augmentative Communications Device for the Speech Impaired Using Commercial Grade Technology, which was licensed to Talker Inc.
Huw M.L. Davies and Ravisekhara Reddy, Department of Chemistry, developed Short Asymmetrical Synthesis of Ritalin and Related Structures, which was licensed to Chakra Biotech Pte Ltd.
Huw M.L. Davies and James Manning, Department of Chemistry, developed High Turnover Chiral Catalysts for Asymmetric Synthesis, which was licensed to Strem Chemicals Inc.
Paulette Freyer and Donald Jacobs, Center for Applied Technologies in Education, Graduate School of Education, developed NYLearns and Web-based Tools for Teachers, which was licensed to NorthPark Solutions Inc.
Donald Hickey, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, developed Method and Apparatus for Measuring Blood Pressure, which was licensed to Scivanta Medical Corporation.
Albert Titus, Department of Electrical Engineering, SEAS, developed Low Power Glare Sensor, which was licensed to Dynamic Eye Inc.
Joseph Mollendorf, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Roger Teagarden, SEAS; and Peter Kovachi, formerly of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, developed Height and Width Adjustable Saddle Sling Seat Walker with Controllable Directional Tracking and Optional Arm Supports, which was licensed by Northeastern Biomechanical Manufacturing Corporation.
Joseph Balthasar, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, developed Anti-FcRn Therapy for Treatment of Auto/Allo Immune Conditions, which was licensed to VLST Corporation
Frederick Sachs, Anthony Auerbach, Stephen Besch and Philip Gottlieb, all of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and Harsh Deep Chopra and Zonglu Susan Hua of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, developed Microfabricated Device for Monitoring Cell Volume, which was licensed to Reichert Inc.
Paras Prasad, Kaushik Roy Choudhury and Won Jin Kim of the Institute For Lasers, Photonics and Biophontonics; Alexander Cartwright, Department of Electrical Engineering; Orville T. Beachley, Aliaksandr Kachynski, Andrey Kuzmin, Haridas E. Pudavar and Yudhisthira Sahoo, all of the Department of Chemistry; Mark Swihart and Ken-Tye Yong of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; David Macrae and Derrick Lucey, formerly of the Institute For Lasers, Photonics and Biophontonics; and Kuei-Sen Hsiao, formerly of the Department of Electrical Engineering, developed Photovoltaic Cell Related Technology, which was licensed to Solexant Inc.
Three current and one former faculty member are being recognized as 2006 UB Faculty Entrepreneurs:
Huw M.S. Davies of the Department of Chemistry, who founded Dirhodium Technologies, a boutique manufacturer and supplier of specialized metal catalysts that offer customers, such as pharmaceutical companies, an efficient means for synthesizing chiral molecules with high selectivity.
Kris Schindler and Michael Buckley of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering founded Talker Inc., which produces assistive living devices that do the talking for individuals who cannot.
Peter Kovachi, formerly of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, founded Northeastern Biomechanical Manufacturing Corp., a local start-up company that manufacturers height- and width-adjustable walkers that enable people with disabilities to achieve greater mobility.