Moving your idea from the lab to the commercial sphere is a worthy, exciting, and daunting endeavor. Whether you’ve worked with us in the past or not, the road from idea conception to commercialization isn’t always obvious, and it’s not the same for everyone.

Join Us to Get Essential Guidance for Each Stage of the Commercialization Process
To boost your confidence in navigating the process, we’ll give you a 30,000 foot view of the commercialization roadmap, and stop at points along the way to share best practices through case studies. We’ll address important questions like: When’s it OK to publicly disclose your innovation? What criteria determines whether an invention is patentable, or should even be patented?

Your Featured Guides
Jennifer McCullar, C4C Technology Manager
Andrew Laughlin, C4C Patent Portfolio Manager

Who Should Attend?
UW researchers at any stage of the commercialization cycle – from idea conception to licensing or start-up.

Date: Thursday, June 13
Time: 3-5 PM
Place: New Ventures Facility on the 3rd Floor of Fluke Hall – Map

Plan for a 45 minute presentation and 15 minutes for Q & A, followed by a happy hour for networking.

Guestrin, who is also the company’s CEO, began the GraphLab open source project five years ago, GraphLab Inc is building a commercial product for applying advanced machine learning to massive graph datasets.

“Data has the ability to make our lives better – whether applied to public health, economics, or suggesting the perfect song. But as the complexity of data sets grows, the need for entirely new ways of thinking about them has grown as well,” said Guestrin. “The industry’s response to the GraphLab project has been clear, this is the solution that drives millions of transactions daily and we are excited to continue to build on this success with commercial products that make a difference.” Guestrin is the Amazon Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Washington.

“Graph data is fundamentally different than other datasets and the analytics solutions that companies are using are time intensive to create and to maintain. There is a significant need for graph-specific solutions to answer some of the bigger questions of our time,” said Matt McIlwain, Managing Director, Madrona Venture Group. “Carlos Guestrin is an exceptional talent who brings both business and engineering experience to the table and we are excited to help build this important company with him and his exceptional team.”

For more information:

Read GraphLab press release

Read GeekWire article

Dimmer co-founded and served as CEO of Holaira from inception through Series B financing in 2012. Holaira is a venture capital funded start-up with a novel therapy which has the potential to impact millions of patients.

Prior to Holaira, Mr. Dimmer was a founding Vice President at Calypso Medical (acquired by Varian) and served through commercialization. The Calypso® System has improved the lives of thousands of cancer patients by increasing the accuracy of their radiation therapy. He has been responsible for bringing numerous medical device innovations to market at both start-ups and large companies. Mr. Dimmer is an inventor on over 75 issued or pending US patents. He received a BS in Electrical Engineering from San Diego State University and an MBA from the University of Washington, Foster School of Business.

Working with Dr. Lih Y. Lin, UW professor of electrical engineering, Tu had discovered that silicon phosphors hold promise for replacing the rare earth element phosphors now used in LEDs. Earlier this month, Tu took a big step by entering into an exclusive option agreement to negotiate a license for the technology from the UW with the start-up company he co-founded, LumiSands, to continue product development and introduce the technology to the market.

Lighting industry seeks alternatives for rare earth elements (REEs)
Silicon is relatively cheap and easy to use. Rare earth elements (REEs) are expensive, and the mining process poses environmental hazards. Despite the name, rare earth metals are fairly abundant, but they are not found in densely packed deposits except in a few countries, such as China which controls 97% of supply and has been reducing export quotas in recent years. Mining REEs involves churning up large areas of land, and that churning often expels dangerous radioactive material into the air. Elevated prices, environmental hazards, uncertain supply, and intellectual property restrictions on LED applications imposed by major industry players have driven the lighting industry to seek alternatives for REE phosphors.

Pursuing the Market Opportunity
Tu’s postdoctoral advisor, materials science and engineering professor Guozhong Cao, urged Tu to pursue commercialization for his innovation, and Tu followed by contacting the C4C. C4C technology manager Ryan Buckmaster met with Tu to review his research findings, provide initial advice, and organize a team to assist in key aspects of spinning out a company and moving an innovation to market.

As a first step, Buckmaster introduced Tu to C4C’s team of entrepreneurs-in-residence, who provided valuable guidance, and to industry contacts. C4C staff filed the patent applications essential to protect intellectual property and supported Tu’s efforts to obtain grant funding which included a C4C Commercialization Fellowship.

“We were very impressed with Chang-Ching’s passion and drive to see the technology he discovered commercialized,” commented Buckmaster. “We selected him as a Commercialization Fellow to both give him time to further develop the technology and, just as importantly, better understand its market potential.”

Working closely with Tu as a business partner and company co-founder is Ji Hoo, a friend and electrical engineering graduate student. Together, they entered two UW start-up competitions in early 2012 — the UW Environmental Innovation Challenge Competition and the UW Business Plan Competition. They took their knowledge and experience from those two competitions, plus guidance from C4C, to successfully apply for a Washington Research Foundation gift funding of $50,000 in 2012.

“With that funding, we could finally have the resources to focus on critical development towards a product,” said Tu.

And they continue to grow. Recent funding awards include $150,000 from a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant in December 2012 and $25,000 from the Burke Center Jones Milestones/Foster Acceleration Award in February 2013 to LumiSands. LumiSands has recently taken office and lab space in the C4C New Ventures Facility in Fluke Hall, the UW’s start-up incubator.

“We are in the proof-of-concept stage,” said Hoo. “We are standardizing the silicon nanoparticles so that customers can swap their rare earth-based products with our silicon products.”

As Tu and Hoo lead their business towards the launch of a first product, they see other opportunities for growth. As of May 2013, LumiSands has attracted angel and W Fund investments that will be matched by the NSF.

“This technology has many other applications,” said Tu. “We’ll go where the market leads us.”

“These Champions represent the very best in American leadership, innovation, and progress,” said US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. “I’m proud to recognize these transportation leaders who work every day to grow our economy and help us reach our destinations more quickly, efficiently, and safely.”

Greenroads Executive Director Jeralee Anderson accepted the award at an event hosted by the White House and US Department of Transportation called “Transportation Technology Solutions for the 21st Century”, along with Champions from across all modes of our transportation industry who are providing significant leadership in the development and/or deployment of transportation technology solutions for the 21st Century at the local, state or regional level.

The Greenroads Foundation is the developer of the Greenroads Rating System, a collection of sustainable roadway design and construction best practices that address water, environment, access, community impact, construction practices and materials. There are 11 project requirements, which must be completed in order for a roadway to be considered a “Greenroad.” There are 47 additional activities that may be voluntarily completed to earn points called “credits,” which are designed to encourage sustainability achievement above and beyond standard practice. After a rigorous review process, the Greenroads Foundation then assigns the roadway project a score, which translates to one of four certification levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Evergreen. Currently, there are over 30 registered projects pursuing certification and 6 completed and certified projects in the world. Several registered projects are slated to finish certification in 2013 located in San Jose, Denver, Houston and San Francisco.

Anderson believes that Greenroads has a significant impact on the communities in which it works. “As a result of using the Greenroads Rating System, many public agencies have been able to reduce their costs, develop sustainability practices and improve the environmental impacts of their transportation projects”, she says. “For example, the City of San Jose, CA, saved 23 percent of the total cost to its Monterey Road Reconstruction Project. Similarly, the City of Bellingham in Washington State created concrete sidewalks out of 400+ crushed, recycled toilets, and the City of Tacoma, WA, restructured its asset management system to improve the operation and maintenance of its public facilities.”

Other honorees at the White House included industry leaders such as James Crites, the Vice President of the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, Josh Whiton, President of Transloc and Kevin Koyasu, President and CEO of Nippon Sharyo USA, Inc.

NanoFacture has licensed technology from UW to introduce its first product, NanoFacture DRS (DNA Recovery System), intended for both sample preparation and long-term storage. NanoFacture DRS aims to bring the power of lab-quality results to the point-of-care setting. The company is working with KNR Systems of South Korea to manufacture the DRS appliances, while NanoFacture will make the interchangeable micro/nano-tip cartridges here in Washington.

Innovation Springs from UW Lab Research
NanoFacture was founded in 2006 by company CEO Kyong-Hoon Lee and UW Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jae-Hyun Chung based on an innovation emerging from research supported through funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the UW Center for Commercialization.

The goal of NanoFacture is to develop low-cost point-of-care medical devices based on nanoengineering, the practice of engineering on the nanoscale, which derives its name from the nanometer, a unit of measurement equaling one billionth of a meter. The ability to manipulate extremely small materials and systems allows NanoFacture to achieve the formerly unfeasible in DNA separation and purification, both rapidly and affordably. By comparison, the current state-of-the-art for DNA prep can be likened to using a crane to collect a human hair – an error-prone and time-consuming endeavor.

The company’s proprietary technology concentrates and purifies DNA samples using a combination of an electric field, chemical affinity, and capillary action. The process occurs upon the surface of a low‐cost micro/nano-tip housed in a disposable cartridge. NanoFacture’s method achieves results equivalent to those achieved by traditional DNA systems used by research and clinical laboratories, but at a lower cost and smaller footprint than traditional filtration techniques that require washing and use of a centrifuge. Additionally, the proprietary tip materials can quickly dry the sample, enabling long‐term storage for sample archiving.

C4C Resources Help NanoFacture Advance to Market
Founders Lee and Chung have worked with the UW Center for Commercialization (C4C) since the early stages of device development. C4C introduced the NanoFacture team to key resources including in-house patent agents to assist in managing intellectual property, a grant writer to secure NSF and NIH funding, and entrepreneurs-in-residence to shape the company’s direction and develop a marketing strategy. In addition, C4C provided a grant through its Commercialization Gap Fund (CGF) for the design of a NanoFacture prototype. Developed through the UW Industrial Design Collaboration Program led by Professor Sang-gyeun Ahn, the prototype was an essential step to validating the competitiveness of the technology.

“To experience the process of American entrepreneurism–from R&D to IP generation and management to business development and license agreement–has been fantastic,” said CEO Lee. “I truly appreciate the help we’ve received from C4C and UW Mechanical Engineering in prototype design and construction and throughout the entire process.”

For more information about the NanoFacture technology, read the UW Today article, “New device can extract human DNA with full genetic data in minutes”.

“We have been confronting this epidemic of opioid abuse by broadening the scope of our educational content about best practice care of chronic pain and extending our outreach by making our expertise available to family practitioners and other primary care providers,” said Dr. David Tauben, Medical Director of the UW Medicine Center for Pain Relief and interim chief of its Division of Pain Medicine.

Part of this ongoing effort is a new web-based course, COPE-REMS (Collaborative Opioid Prescribing Education), a continuing medical education course from UW Medicine. COPE-REMS is specifically aimed at improving the safety of prescribing painkiller medications, also known as opioids.

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for long-acting, extended-release painkillers, a reaction in part to the alarming death rate of nearly 16,000 prescription drug overdose deaths per year in the U.S. The FDA REMS requires opioid manufacturers to educate providers on ways to reduce risks associated with chronic opioid therapy.

UW Medicine’s COPE-REMS course is one of the first of its kind nationally to respond to this need and to be fully compliant with the REMS. It is based on an earlier continuing medical education course called simply COPE or Collaborative Opioid Prescribing Education. The new COPE-REMS course meets all FDA requirements and is rich with guidance about when it is appropriate to prescribe, to change a dose level, or to discontinue opioid prescribing. It offers videos of case-based scenarios to help providers model ways to handle difficult situations.

“Understanding the pharmacology of these medications is necessary,” said Dr. Mark Sullivan, a psychiatrist with the UW Medicine Center for Pain Relief, professor in the UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and a widely-published expert in pain management. “But so are the personal communication skills that allow providers to develop a trusting relationship with patients who are potentially at risk, whether due to high opioid doses or personal histories of substance abuse or mental illness.”

The COPE-REMS course is offered through the UW Center for Commercialization’s training program, the Training Xchange, which bridges the gap between researchers and front-line users who provide services.

To learn more about the COPE-REMS course, visit: http://www.trainingxchange.org/our-programs/cope-rems

This year’s 91 submissions “demonstrate the remarkable creativity of students and their ability to pinpoint business opportunities ranging from health care, clean tech and consumer products, to micro hotels and 3-D printing,” said BPC co-chairs Emilia Griswold (MBA 2014) and Liza Green (MBA 2014). Current trends include a focus on consumer products and service/retail (45% of plans feature such innovations as coloring your hair with gold nanoparticles, creating a virtual tour of your home, and camps and coaching for female athletes). We’re also seeing strong IT/software/internet plans, targeted social networks, more environmental innovation, and solutions to world health problems. How cool is a device that could diagnose malaria with one drop of blood in one minute?

The Screening Round, the initial round of the competition, is complete and 37 teams have made the cut from 91 submissions. The next stage is the Investment Round on April 24 in the Husky Union Building (HUB) Ballroom.

• Acti Digital Health created ActiFit, a revolutionary dietary management solution for Apple iPhone users.
• Biomethane creates greenhouse-gas-negative vehicle fuel from dairy waste.
• BOSS Medical is developing new orthopedic technologies that improve clinical outcomes while decreasing healthcare costs compared to current procedures and devices.
• Cell Focus will produce a low-cost cell phone based microscope targeting the world health, schools, and parental markets.
• Chinese Radio Seattle is a modern radio for the Chinese community in the greater Seattle area.
• CommitChange provides access to powerful fundraising tools and detailed analytics to assist in online fundraising efforts.
• Crystal Acuity sells enterprise software that is optimized for tablet usage in order to give insight to all levels of management related to the health and performance of project investments.
• Disease Diagnostic Group will provide a tool for a handheld diagnosis of Maleria in one minute with just one drop of blood from a fingertip for a single use cost of just $0.20.
• Elemental Hotels will provide clean, minimalistic, low cost, modern micro hotel rooms.
• GlobalGraynz brings international flavors to households in India by making available specialty multi cuisine ingredients through an innovative shopping experience.
• GoldyLochs has developed a hair and natural fiber coloring system using gold-nanoparticles and plans to license out to existing hair coloring firms.
• GSD Devices is creating a durable 11x17in rollable tablet to increase efficiency in the construction industry.
• H2.Ois developing and commercializing a product that can access an untapped renewable energy source.
• Hemel Boards Company produces locally-produced paddle-boards.
• HomeValet connects homeowners and property managers to service professionals who are available at the time of need.
• iHome3D is a smartphone app that can create a virtual tour and floor plan of a house in a matter of minutes.
• InsuLenz has developed a “smart” polymer contact lenses to provide a bio-responsive and needle-free insulin delivery platform for diabetics.
• LionTail Cycles has created an electric assist system for bicycles to integrate lights, a sound system, smartphone charging and display, and more.
• MakeSpace is a cafe style 3D printing company that hopes to introduce the world of 3D printing to Seattle.
• My Pinewood Design is a website offering a simple design tool enabling the creation of custom pinewood derby cars for children and families participating in an organization like the cub scouts or YMCA.
• NIA Wheel produces and sells a brain wave controlled power wheelchair.
• nomON is a new mobile randomization app that makes ordering delivery food crazy easy and fun.
• Octave is a mobile application that teaches the fundamentals of signing to beginners and amateur singers in a fun way.
• PolyDrop plans to enter the growing conductive coating market.
• Positive Performance provides young athletes the mental tools and training needed to maximize potential, both on and off the field, through an online mobile app.
• Pure Blue Technologies is developing a novel industrial water treatment solution that’s more efficient at a lower cost.
• Recurrence Inc brings business school instruction to the 21st century by gamifying the traditional business case study, and converting it into a video game.
• SharpeFit is a virtual online sizing tool for consumers to ensure they get the right size when shopping for apparel online.
• ShunTek produces a medical device that provides a minimally invasive way to minimize blood loss in inferior vena cava trauma by stanching blood flow and simultaneously maintaining venous return.
• Sound THC will produce cannabis candies in the newly legal recreational marijuana market.
• TapDingo is a mobile service targeted towards the business traveler in an unfamiliar city to provide a real-time, relevant itinerary of top sights, restaurants and events.
• TBL Building Solutions is a software plug-in that integrates with design software in order to provide building professionals with environmental data on the building materials in their projects.
• Tinker is an interactive and social iPad adventure game designed for young women, designed to build confidence and familiarity with STEM through episodic challenges.
• Torch Illumination is a candle company with a mission: for every two candles purchased a solar light will be delivered to an impoverished individual living off the grid.
• TriboTEX is commercializing PhD research to repair industrial machinery during normal operation using nanotechnology.
• Upcycled will allow users to create substitution of wood fuel in India, where 49% of the nation uses wood fuel for cooking.
• Z Girls provides camps and coaching to 11–14 year old female athletes using the Compass Curriculum™, which covers topics like goal-setting, positive self-talk, body image, building confidence, and nutrition.

ALTERNATES

• Earths Elegance created an innovative glass tile as a direct substitute for granite or any other natural stone, offered at a lower price and lighter weight than any products.
• Vetna has designed a diagnostic system called VetDNA, which brings testing techniques into offices which could not afford the space, capital and training investments to implement DNA testing using manual methods.
• KeySense Games provides a learning aid in the form of a board game to teachers for the visually impaired that keeps students engaged and encourages social development.

BEATBio, a Seattle-based biotechnology company focused on the development of a novel gene therapy to improve cardiac performance in the setting of heart failure, today announced the closing of a $2.5 million seed stage investment with funding provided by CET Capital Partners. Participating investors include the W Fund. The proceeds will be used to move BEATBio’s lead gene therapy product into clinical development.

BEATBio’s therapeutic strategy is based on the discovery that a small increase in a naturally occurring enzyme can act as a “super-fuel” to increase the pumping power of heart muscles and improve cardiac performance measures including speed and force of contraction as well as relaxation in both resting and stressed states. BEATBio’s technology was developed by an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Washington led by Charles Murry, Director of the UW Center for Cardiovascular Biology and was funded by significant federal grants from the National Institutes of Health. BEATBio holds an exclusive global license to a suite of cardiovascular technologies from the UW, including the gene therapy program.

“This financing is an important milestone for BEATBio and will allow us to move rapidly forward with the development of our lead product. It is reassuring to know that high quality, promising but early stage companies can still be funded in today’s investment environment. It’s a testament to the founder’s scientific leadership and the investor’s willingness to fund the critical translational phase of biotech product development” said Michael Kranda, BEATBio CEO.

CET Capital Partners Managing Director, Craig E. Tall, who will join the BEATBio Board, said “The combination of the scientific foundation, the leadership team and the prospect of fundamentally transforming the treatment of heart failure patients presented a rare investment opportunity. I am pleased to have helped launch what I believe to be an important company.”

Said Chad Waite, investment committee member of the W Fund and managing director at OVP Venture Partners, “BEATBio is exactly the kind of early-stage investment that the W Fund was formed to make. It represents an impactful discovery from cutting edge research in Washington that could transform the prognosis for literally millions of Americans suffering from congestive heart failure. We hope this W Fund investment will help drive these groundbreaking results from a Washington laboratory toward a new and badly-needed cardiac therapy.”

About BEATBio
BEATBio is a Seattle, Wash. based biotechnology company focused on the development of a novel gene therapy for heart failure. BEATBio’s technologies were developed by a founding scientific team from the University of Washington. BEATBio holds an exclusive, worldwide license from the University of Washington to a suite of technologies and associated intellectual property involving cardiovascular medicine, including gene and cell therapy, bioengineered materials and biological pace-makers.