Technology Transfer and Economic Development at SIUC in the news

Tech transfer keeps innovation flowing
By Codell Rodriguez, Southern Business Journal, July 18, 2010

With Southern Illinois University Carbondale being a research university, innovations are made and the Technology Transfer Program is there to ensure those innovations are successful.

The program helps identify potential successes at the university and help make them successful by acquiring patents and marketing inventions to industries.

“We’ve always felt one of the key aspects of research is to get it out there into the public, to utilize it and do some good,” said Jeff Myers, senior technology transfer specialist.

One of the professors making use of the program is Luke Tolley, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. He developed the DIABLA method with fellow associate professor Matt McCarroll. Tolley said the method helps understand how drugs and molecules work in the human body.

Proteins and drugs are placed in a small tube. Drugs are hit with a laser and look for slow-spinning drug molecules to know which proteins react with which drugs.

Tolley said the process could help design better drugs and reduce the amount of side effects. He said he has enjoyed working with the program.

"I'm very excited to have the opportunity to bring my product to the market," Tolley said. "It's been a very good experience."

Getting the university's research out on the forefront is something SIUC Chancellor Rita Cheng has shown great interest in. Her husband, Tom, who has a background in business, said he would volunteer time to help in any way to boost the success of the program. He said he is still exploring his options for getting involved and helping out.

Myers said the program can help the university's name recognition by getting quality-inventions on the market and can also help the region in ways such as producing startup businesses.

"We think it's going to make a difference for the region's economic development," Myers said.

Read the full article with photos on Southern Business Journal.

Visit the related websites:
SIUC Technology Transfer
Dr. Tolley's Homepage
Dr. Tolley's technology available for license

News out of Southern Illinois Research Park

Georgia firm brings office, jobs to research park

The Saluki Times, June 25, 2010, by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- At a time when many companies are protecting the bottom line through layoffs or overseas outsourcing, a Georgia technology services business has brought a new office and new jobs to the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus.

Liaison Technologies, whose chief operating officer is an SIUC alumnus, is the newest tenant at the Southern Illinois Research Park. The company, which opened earlier this month in the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, has hired seven employees and plans to employ at least three more in the coming weeks. Company officials are hopeful that heading into 2011, they’ll have about 15 local employees and increase its Southern Illinois workforce to about 25 by 2012.

As Liaison considered expansion, the options included overseas outsourcing of highly skilled technology positions or expanding existing metropolitan office locations. But Larry Mieldezis, Liaison Technologies COO, said he had another idea, a plan involving his alma mater.

“We decided instead of going offshore to other countries with these jobs, we would try a different approach, staying onshore and finding a partner in Illinois to keep these jobs in the U.S.,” Mieldezis said. He said the concept involved finding a rural location near a good university producing quality graduates in the field of information technology.

Because of the lower cost of living in such communities, companies can offer competitive wages and benefits to employees more economically than they could in metropolitan areas. He noted that keeping the jobs stateside avoids common problems associated with outsourcing jobs overseas, including language and cultural barriers, regulatory compliance and security requirements, political uncertainties and time zone differences.

“In fact, it’s proven that for every one resource we hire in the United States, we would have to hire 1.5 in India or China. We’ve found an avenue that is cost-effective and it keeps jobs here at home in the states rather than overseas,” said Mieldezis, a Marion native. “When I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 1986 from SIUC, I would have liked to have stayed in the area but I had to move away to really utilize my degree, first to New York and then to Seattle and finally to Georgia. But I’ve maintained a relationship with SIUC and the computer science department over the years.

“The information technology talent is so strong at SIUC, we really wanted to come here. I believe there’s an opportunity to offer people a really good career and a comfortable lifestyle here in Southern Illinois,” Mieldezis added. “I would have loved to have stayed in Southern Illinois but couldn’t. I think Liaison’s rural sourcing strategy is a great thing for the University and the community. I have a strong loyalty to SIUC and there is a lot of talent here. We were looking for an investment where the company itself and the employees can benefit for the long term.”

Liaison provides integration and data management services on a global basis. Serving businesses and organizations in more than 35 countries, the company offers a wide variety of business-to-business and enterprise application integration and data transformation services. Essentially, Mieldezis said the company utilizes specialized technology in combination with highly skilled integration and data management specialists to connect companies with their business community and trading partners. Liaison’s hosted technology leverages the Internet and links companies with their suppliers as well as business partners to ensure that all are speaking the same e-commerce technological language.

For instance, a manufacturing company deals with distributors as well as suppliers. There are all sorts of documents involved in order to carry out various transactions, including orders, invoices and shipping notices. Mieldezis said Liaison is “a software-as-a-service (SaaS) network that facilitates and guarantees the delivery of that data and transforms it into the appropriate forms.”

The company began in 2000, initially working with the pulp and paper industry. Since then, it has evolved into an international information technology company serving many different industries including pharmaceutical, distribution and financial services, along with an array of manufacturing markets. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., north of Atlanta, Liaison employs about 180 people at locations that include London, Amsterdam, Helsinki and Tampere, Finland. The Technology Association of Georgia, a leading non-profit technology organization, this spring named Liaison one of the “Top 40 Most Innovative Technology Companies” in Georgia.

“We welcome Liaison to Southern Illinois and to SIUC. This is an excellent example of an alternative to offshore outsourcing and we’re excited to be a part of it, especially when it involves jobs for talented young University graduates. Liaison’s COO is a Saluki and when they were exploring the idea of locating near a university, he thought of his alma mater and I don’t think we’ve disappointed him with our response to his idea,” said Kyle Harfst, executive director of the Southern Illinois Research Park and director of technology and enterprise development for SIUC.

Mieldezis said as Liaison continues to grow, it looks for ways to offer more value to customers, to build in additional intelligence and offer the best possible combination of technology delivery and integrated managed services. One popular new concept getting attention is “cloud-based” integration services through which Liaison customers subscribe to and are able to utilize the latest technology software and solutions without having to purchase them at considerable cost.

Mieldezis is confident that the firm’s implementation of rural sourcing will also be good for Liaison, its customers and its employees.

“We are happy we’ve been able to expand onshore where there’s a good University producing students with a quality education and strong work ethnic,” he said. “We are an established company and we are profitable but we have benefited from the connections with SIUC’s Small Business Incubator and Kyle Harfst. It’s been valuable to get help with the facilities and infrastructure in close proximity to the University. Our employees in Carbondale are an extension of our workforce around the world. Through the use of Internet and technology, we all work as a single, virtual network.”

Mieldezis said the employees at the Southern Illinois office provide very technical IT support around the world as well as software and platform development and IT outsourcing for client companies. In making the initial hires, Liaison has worked with various academic units at SIUC including the Department of Computer Science and the School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies. Information about job opportunities is also on the company website, www.liaison.com.

Ultimately, Mieldezis said the goal is to achieve such success at SIUC that Liaison moves from the Small Business Incubator to larger headquarters in the region and the SIUC office becomes Liaison’s model for onshore-based rural sourcing.

Visit the Southern Illinois Research Park website.

Aquarists to hold first meeting in Carbondale Wednesday

The Southern: http://www.thesouthern.com/news/local/article_12b67fec-5152-11df-8225-001cc4c002e0.html

BY TIM CROSBY, For The Southern | Posted: Monday, April 26, 2010 11:37 am

CARBONDALE - Fishery experts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are forming an outreach group aimed at assisting and encouraging fish businesses and hobbyists.

The Southern Illinois Aquarists Association will hold its first meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, in the John C. Guyon Auditorium at Morris Library. The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature guest speaker Kevin Kohen, director of marine aquaculture at liveaquaria.com.

James Garvey, director of the Fisheries & Illinois Aquaculture Center at SIUC, said the organization's initial focus would involve the ornamental fish industry, which procures, breeds, distributes and sells fish commonly found in aquariums.

"A typical ornamental fish is a gold fish," Garvey said. "We're talking about fish that are a little bit harder to take care of or breed in captivity, but that have a distinctive price advantage to produce."

An example of such a fish -- a discus fish -- inhabits an aquarium in Garvey's office. The fish, a flat, circular fish with colorful markings, was produced at Rocky Mountain Discus in southern Indiana. Garvey said such fish sell for $40 to $70 each, depending on their breed.

Garvey said businesses that supply ornamental fish hold strong economic promise, if owners are well trained and responsible.

"We want to promote the industry but at the same time educate consumers about the way in which fish like these are procured," Garvey said. "We want to promote wise conservation and make it possible for hobbyists to consider that when the make their purchases."

In too many cases currently, some fish suppliers capture ornamental fish in the wild, depleting populations. The SIAA will work with suppliers to promote responsible procurement and breeding methods, while helping hobbyists understand the entire system and make informed choices. They also want to educate hobbyists about the consequences of re-releasing ornamental varieties in local waterways, where their presence could damage the ecosystem.

"Right now, the aquarist hobby is huge and it seems to be growing," Garvey said. "We look at promoting it because it's a gateway to getting people more interested in general fishery issues, such as fish farming, which we want to promote. We want to help people reconnect with the wild and look at fishing as an interactive hobby."

Another big potential business the association will support involves cultivating live coral, which brings a pretty penny on the hobbyist market, as well, Garvey said.

Brian Small, associate professor of animal science, food and nutrition at SIUC, a fish endocrinologist, also will be heavily involved in the association and will serve as valuable resource on captive breeding methods, Garvey said.

The association also will work with existing local fish farmers and those who are interested in starting a fish farm, providing information and expert support, Garvey said. He also hopes the association will provide outreach for students who want to someday help

"Operation Bootstrap" Orientation Saturday

http://www.duquoin.com/news/x998213411/-Operation-Bootstrap-Orientation-Saturday

Carbondale, Ill. -

Round four of the popular and successful Operation Bootstrap, a training program from the Southern Illinois University Carbondale entrepreneurship team, is kicking off soon.

The program is open to aspiring and new business owners in the southern 16 counties of Illinois. Already 102 graduates from the first three classes are reaping the benefits of the business-training program. The SIUC Office of Economic and Regional Development’s Entrepreneurship and Business Development Unit and the Delta Regional Authority provide the training for “Operation Bootstrap: Seeding Southern Illinois Start-ups” to unemployed or underemployed low- and moderate-income residents in the Illinois Delta counties.

A new class session will begin in June. However, all who are interested in the intensive, 12-session program must attend an orientation session, which provides information about how the program works and all of the requirements.

Here’s the schedule for the orientation sessions:

• Saturday, April 10, 1-2 p.m., Du Quoin City Hall, 302 E. Poplar St.

• Tuesday, April 13, 4:30-5:30 p.m., SIUC Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, 150 E. Pleasant Hill Road, Carbondale.

• Wednesday, April 21, 2:30-3:30 p.m., SIUC Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, 150 E. Pleasant Hill Road, Carbondale. The Illinois Small Business Development Center is sponsoring a free workshop, “Finding Financing,” that will immediately follow this training session and participants are welcome to attend.

“SIU is so proud to be able to offer this training again. Our successes tell the Operation Bootstrap story best. Take a look at our Web site, www.operationbootstrap.biz, and see the results. These new business owners are hard working, inspired and determined to make a living for themselves and make a difference in Southern Illinois. With very little start-up costs, these entrepreneurs are bootstrapping their way into successful business ventures,” said Robyn Laur Russell, director of business development and international trade at SIUC.

It gives them all of the tools to help them start their own business or formalize a business they already have. The program is beneficial to entrepreneurs of all kinds, whether they are starting a small downtown business or planning a high-growth, global operation. There’s no cost to participate.

And, in addition to gaining vital information and assistance, graduates of the program are also eligible to compete for monies to help them start their new businesses. Those completing the program and developing individual business plans will vie for competitive grant awards of up $3,000. As many as 15 participants could earn funds to help them launch their businesses and create new jobs in Southern Illinois.

Operation Bootstrap 4 kicks off June 19 with an intensive “blast class” incorporating the first four sessions. Classes continue the next eight weeks running from 3-6 p.m. each Wednesday. The class meets at the Man-Tra-Con Family Opportunity Center in Du Quoin.

For more information about Operation Bootstrap or the SIUC Office of Economic and Regional Development, call 618/453-2070 or e-mail startbiz@siu.edu.

Economic Espionage Seminar

FBI Special Agent Shevlin gave a very informative and eye-opening seminar yesterday in Carbondale about economic espionage. In case you were not able to attend, you can read more about the topic in this "2008 Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Economic Collection and Industrial Espionage."

Understanding this topic will be integral to the continued expansion of university technology commercialization efforts.

Here's some additional information from this white paper by Xerox about the cost in billions of economic espionage.

What is the cost of economic espionage? Fortune 1000 companies reported losing proprietary information and intellectual property valued at between $53 and $59 billion dollars during the period beginning July 1, 2000 and ending June 30, 2001. This finding was based on a survey entitled Trends in Proprietary Information Loss, sponsored by the American Society of Industrial Security Foundation (ASIS), PricewaterhouseCoopers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III claims an even higher number—as much as $200 billion—is lost annually to economic espionage.

If you would like more information on this topic or if you want to talk to SA Shevlin about any behavior or activities you've observed that may be suspect, you can contact him at:

3423 Office Park Drive
Marion IL 62959
Tel: 618 997 6847

The Technology and Innovation Expo

The Technology and Innovation Expo took place in Carbondale on October 9. More than 110 people were in attendance, including businesspeople, university faculty and staff, and regional economic development and media representatives.

After a welcome by Dr. Don Rice, Dr. Bob Gower gave the keynote speech to start the day. He talked about how large disruptive innovations are no longer coming from large companies. Large companies are losing the ability to innovate, in terms of doing meaningful research and taking the associated business risk. This is because large corporations lack the necessary culture that supports disruptive innovation. As with "The Innovator's Dilemma," great companies that do everything right sometimes still fail because they are out-innovated.

Dr. Gower suggested that this change presents a big opportunity for research universities such as SIUC. He pointed out that the best researchers nowadays are at universities. In his opinion, it's not money that is the most important ingredient for success, but drive and desire, a key trait of entrepreneurs. So, the combination of universities working with independent entrepreneurs will be the combination that will result in the big disruptive innovations moving forward.

His specific suggestions to SIUC were to continue to create research opportunities, and to continue to avoid too much bureaucracy and arrogance as the university grows. He referred to his pleasant experiences with SIU leadership and researchers and noted that it was an important asset of the university.

The morning presentations ranged from the contour table instructional laser device to an "Objective Tinnitus Testing Device" from the SIU Medschool. Several of the inventors talked about their experience of the inventive process and recognizing a need as the first step.

Thad Heckman demonstrated his contour table laser device for architectural instruction. He spoke of his experience using it in the classroom with positive results, and potential additional applications.

Dr. David Lightfoot talked about "Adding value to the annual $5 billion generated from sale of Illinois crops" and his four patents related to the subject, some of which are currently licensed by industry partners.

Dr. Bakul Dave talked about one of his patents that has applications including odor prevention, color protection and wrinkle prevention for fabrics.

Dr. Luke Tolley talked about his DIABLA invention for finding protein targets and its many applications from better enzymes for biofuels to personalized medicine.

Kristy Owen traveled to Carbondale from the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield for the day to present the "Objective Tinnitus Testing Device," and licensing opportunities available for human and animal applications.

Two patentees were honored during the luncheon, provided by Great Boars of Fire. Bruce DeRuntz received a plaque for his "Wire Connector Driver" design patent, issued July 22, 2008. David Lightfoot received a plaque for his "Method of determining soybean sudden death syndrome resistance in a soybean plant" greenhouse assays patent that was issued October 30, 2007.

Curt Jones entertained the lunch crowd with a talk about his experiences with the innovation process and some current directions of Dippin' Dots and his other projects. Event attendees were able to sample Dippin' Dots' new "Coffee Frappes" product throughout the day.

The afternoon technology session was focused on environment and energy, and the complete summary is available on the SIU Energy Technology Weblog.

The reception following the event was catered by La Bella Notte, an emerging local specialty catering team, with wine provided by Blue Sky Vineyard. Several sponsor organizations featured exhibits in the Atrium throughout the day.

The event's goal was to raise awareness of SIUC in business and industry as a center for technology and innovation, and more information will follow with more details about specific aspects of the event. More information about the event and the days' agenda is available here: http://techtransfer.siuc.edu/tie/agenda.html.

The feedback from presenters and attendees of the event was wholly positive, with reports that the quality of the presented work exceeded expectations, and that they would resoundingly attend the event again next year and recommend it to others.

As a result, the organizing committee is planning additional initiatives to further increase awareness of university technology and facilitate outcomes and deal flow. One of the first activities is this weblog. More information will follow in the coming weeks about the purpose and goals of the SIUC Technology Development weblog.