 The Maryland
Technology Extension Service (MTES), which offers manufacturing solutions to Maryland companies,
had a $318.2 million economic impact on manufacturers from January 2000 through March 2009.
MTES has assisted Maryland manufacturers in: increasing sales by $84.2 million; retaining sales
by $160.7 million; saving $17.9 million in costs; saving $19.7 million in investments; and
increasing plant or equipment investment by $35.7 million. MTES has also helped manufacturers
create or retain 1,538 jobs. The data reflects surveys of MTES clients by the National Institute
of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
 The Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program (MIPS) announced 17 research projects
between Maryland companies and university faculty to develop technology-based commercial products.
Worth $4.8 million, the projects combine $3.4 million from participating companies and $1.4 million
from MIPS. Funding supports research in the laboratories of participating University System of
Maryland faculty members, who work closely with partner companies to advance their products. All
funding goes to the project faculty and often supports the work of graduate students. The projects,
which span the State of Maryland, include environmentally friendly floors for poultry houses,
portable wind turbines for generating energy, sound-expanding technologies for electric guitars,
therapeutics for lupus, breast and ovarian cancer, and new, fast diagnostics for the flu and a
common bacterial infection in children.
 Resensys LLC and
FlexEl LLC, two startup companies spun out of technologies created at the
Clark School, were
awarded $25K grants from Science Applications International Corporation through the Maryland
Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech). The funding, provided by SAIC for 2008, supports
university ventures with promising technologies in alternative energy or threat detection.
Funding recipients are required to be enrolled in or enter the Mtech Venture
Accelerator Program,
which systematically guides faculty and student technology entrepreneurs in starting companies
based upon their inventions. Resensys develops self-powered, wireless, distributed sensors for
monitoring structures such as bridges, buildings and pipelines. Resensys' patent-pending technology
was invented by electrical and computer engineering assistant research scientist and alumnus
Mehdi Kalantari (pictured; Ph.D. '05, electrical engineering). FlexEl has
developed a proprietary
battery that has more capacity than any other rechargeable, flexible, thin-film battery in the world.
FlexEl’s patent-pending technologies were developed by electrical and computer engineering
professors Martin Peckerar and Neil Goldsman, as well as
research associate and alumnus
Zeynep Dilli (M.S. '01 and Ph.D. '07, electrical engineering) and Josekuttan
Manikathuparambil,
a graduate student in the Clark School’s master’s program in telecommunications.
 Winners of
the 2009 University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition include:
• FlexEl LLC
(team pictured), winner of $20K in the information technology division, is described above.
• Haemechanics (now Trauma Solutions LLC), winner of $20K
in the life sciences division, has developed a synthetic, hemostatic material capable of
simultaneously inducing blood clotting and delivering therapeutics. The company’s team
includes Fischell Department of Bioengineering research assistant Brendan Casey;
Fischell Department of Bioengineering undergraduate research assistant Adam Behrens;
Peter Kofinas, Keystone Professor, Fischell Department of Bioengineering; and
Bartley Griffith, professor of surgery, chief, division of cardiac surgery and
director, heart and lung transplantation at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
• Tseai Energy Unlimited, winner of $10K in the undergraduate division and
winner of a $15K Warren Citrin Social Impact Award, is developing a system to provide sustainable
electricity to rural communities in the developing world and help improve the quality of life
in those communities. Tesai’s team includes Mtech Hillman Entrepreneurs Program students
Trevor Young, an environmental economics major, geology major Stanley
Ohaka, and American Studies undergraduate student Shavon Holland.
• XyloFuel LLC, winner of a $10K Warren Citrin Social Impact Award, aims to
license out patented processes for converting plant fiber to fuel ethanol and other products.
Team members include Richard Kohn, professor of animal science, and
Robert Frank, engineering manager for XyloFuel.
 Mtech has established the Tech Entrepreneur Research and
Prototyping (TERP) Startup Laboratory. Located in the Mtech Technology Advancement
Program (TAP) building, the university's incubator for high-tech startup companies,
the TERP Startup Lab is designed for entrepreneurs who need a place to quickly develop
technology prototypes and get some help in starting their companies. Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC) provided $35K in funding for software and equipment
for the lab. Three companies have agreed to enter the TERP Startup Laboratory: Coil
Guitars, founded by Bruce Jacob, Keystone Professor and director of computer engineering
in the department of electrical and computer engineering; SD Nanosciences, a company
co-founded by Professor Dan Stein (cell biology and molecular genetics) and Professor
Philip DeShong (chemistry and biochemistry); and Tseai Energy Unlimited, founded by
Trevor Young, a student in Mtech's Hillman Entrepreneurs Program.
 Mtech is offering two entrepreneurship courses this summer for high school
students. The courses, offered through the university's Young Scholars Program, enable students
to earn three college credits in just three weeks. These courses give students the opportunity
to explore career options and test academic interests, meet new friends who share similar
interests, and discover college life at Maryland. The first course, ENES 140, Discovering New
Ventures—Foundations of Entrepreneurship, enables students to explore dynamic business and
technology topics by working in teams to design a new business. The new course, ENES 141, Introduction
to Technology Marketing and Product Development, is for students interested in careers in marketing,
business, engineering, or technology entrepreneurship who want to learn the principles behind
developing and marketing technology products. Also, for the first time, Mtech is offering its
most popular entrepreneurship course online this summer. The three-credit course, ENES460,
Fundamentals of Technology Start-Up Ventures, is open to all students and will help them learn
the processes and skills needed to successfully launch and manage new ventures.
 TAP company Zymetis Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the cost-effective
production of biofuels and other biorefined products, was named a 2009 GoingGreen East Top 50 Private
Company by the AlwaysOn Network. The award is given to
emerging companies creating new green technology businesses. Zymetis was selected based on demonstration
of growth, market opportunity, quality of innovation and customer traction.
 Former
MIPS project award winner CSA Medical Inc., a company dedicated to pioneering spray cryotherapy of
pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions in the gastrointestinal tract and other organ systems, was named
Outstanding Incubator Client in the technology category by the National Business Incubation Association.
The company's CryoSpray Ablation system removes cancerous, pre-cancerous or diseased tissue by rapidly
freezing and destroying the unwanted tissue. Since CSA Medical launched its product 1.5 years ago,
more than 60 hospitals in the U.S. are using the technology. CSA Medical has grown from eight to 40
full-time employees. Pictured: Tim Askew, CEO of CSA Medical.
Top of Page
|
