$40,000 contest open to student entrepreneurs

Source: The Saluki Times

June 8, 2011
By Christi Mathis 06/08/2011 14:01:58


CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale is launching its first student entrepreneurship competition, offering winners a share of $40,000 in cash to help them start businesses in Southern Illinois.

Collegiate CampCEO 2011-Saluki Operation Bootstrap is a unique event bringing together the inaugural entrepreneurship contest with a new college incarnation of the popular CampCEO and the Operation Bootstrap entrepreneurship experience. This unique experience offers University students the opportunity to brainstorm, innovate, study and plan real-world businesses and present their proposals for business experts to judge. Then, through the infusion of seed capital and technical support, the program empowers students to launch their business ventures in Southern Illinois.

“This is a great opportunity for our students to jump-start successful careers in business,” Chancellor Rita Cheng said. “When you combine their talents and creativity with the mentoring provided by our professional staff and local entrepreneurs, the outcome can only be positive for our students and our region’s economy.”

The eligibility criteria to participate in Collegiate Camp CEO 2011-Saluki Operation Bootstrap are simple. You must be an SIUC student, enrolled for the fall 2011 semester. You must be a U.S. citizen and must plan to start and operate a business in one of the 16 Delta Region counties of Southern Illinois. And, you must be available to participate in the entrepreneurship training and graduation/awards ceremony, set for Aug. 15-19 and Aug. 23, respectively.

Essentially, the program works like this. The application period opens June 13 and students can apply to participate until 5 p.m. on July 22 by submitting an application online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/salukibootstrap2011. For more information, call 618/453-3805 or email startbiz@siu.edu. Plans call for selection of up to 25 participants and selection and notification of successful applicants will occur no later than Aug. 5.

Then, the professional staff of the SIUC Entrepreneurship and Business Development Unit will lead participants in a weeklong entrepreneurship training Aug. 15-19 on the SIUC campus. Each morning from 9 a.m. to noon there will be training with a specialized curriculum. Then, following the lunch break, there will be intense coaching sessions from 1 to 4 p.m., bringing together the students with the entrepreneurship staff and regional business mentors.

Camp participants will show what they’ve learned on Aug. 19. That afternoon they will make “pitch” presentations highlighting their business proposals for a group of entrepreneurs from the region. A graduation and awards ceremony for program participants will wrap things up on Aug. 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. That evening, $40,000 in cash awards and nearly $5,000 in professional consulting services are at stake.

The first-place winner will claim a $7,500 cash award to leverage in securing additional start-up monies. The overall winner will also receive $2,500 in software, books and professional consulting services, bringing the value of their grand prize to $10,000.

Second place nets a $5,000 cash prize along with $1,500 in software, books and professional consulting. In addition, nine program graduates will each win $3,000. All student entrepreneurs who successfully complete the program will receive certificates along with a package of business planning software and entrepreneurship books valued at more than $100.

That’s not all, though. The entrepreneurship and business development staff at SIUC is offering continuing services to program graduates, including free consulting, evaluation, networking opportunities, and professional development assistance throughout the launch and operation of their business ventures.

“SIUC is joining the ranks of prestigious universities by hosting an entrepreneurship contest for students and we can actually award them seed capital funds to start their business or to leverage into a more substantial loan or investment capital. We are working to help stop the ‘brain drain’ and keep young, bright, talented graduates right here in Southern Illinois so they can have a positive impact on our regional economy,” said Emily Carter, director of entrepreneurship and business development for SIUC.

This new program adapts for SIUC students two popular and successful programs. In the past decade CampCEO has drawn scores of youths from a wide region for its intensive, nationally recognized youth entrepreneurship experience and this new program for SIUC students incorporates business development, training, financial advice, marketing concepts and other components of the program.

Collegiate CampCEO 2011-Saluki Operation Bootstrap also brings in the principles of the successful Operation Bootstrap, an entrepreneurship partnership between SIUC and the Delta Regional Authority. The Delta region includes Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Pope, Johnson, Hardin, Union, Jackson, Williamson, Randolph, Perry, Franklin, Hamilton, White, Gallatin and Saline counties.

“Starting a business and earning a degree wasn’t easy. I used every bit of advice I could get, including all of the help available at the Small Business Development Center. A student entrepreneurship training program would have been invaluable at the time when I went through all the steps necessary to launch my company. Saluki Operation Bootstrap greatly enhances a college education, especially if you possess the entrepreneurial spirit,” said Ben Weinberger, SIUC alumnus and CEO of Digitalsmiths, a multi-million dollar digital media business that began in Weinberger’s college residence hall room with help from other Salukis.

The Delta Regional Authority, through grants, is funding Collegiate CampCEO 2011-Saluki Operation Bootstrap in keeping with the organization’s mission of enhancing economic development and improving the quality of life for Southern Illinoisans.

For additional information, contact SIUC Entrepreneurship and Business Development by calling 618/453-3805 or send an email to startbiz@siu.edu.

Saluki Concept Fund will benefit researchers

Saluki Times
March 16, 2011
By Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Making the leap from the drawing board to the marketplace is sometimes the toughest hurdle for new technologies. A new program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale aims to help researchers meet that challenge.

The Saluki Concept Fund will provide up to $20,000 to SIUC researchers to help them nurture new technologies through the sometimes-difficult early stages. The funding will support short-term, concept-proving research that reveals the invention’s potential, helping clear the way for commercialization.

The Saluki Concept Fund is a cooperative effort between the SIUC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the University’s Technology Transfer Program. John A. Koropchak, vice chancellor for research and dean of the SIUC graduate school, said the fund will help the University carry out its missions as a research institution, as well as support the economy.

“Research universities are often called economic engines, in part because some of the research done by the faculty and students can result in new businesses and jobs based on the innovations of that research,” Koropchak said. “However, the process of converting an innovation to a business is almost always resource-limited, making this transition very challenging and often frustrating.”

Koropchak said such an approach has succeeded at other institutions and that he believes it will yield results at SIUC, as well.

“This proof-of-concept program, that has been shown to work at prominent institutions nationwide, is intended to assist this difficult stage and increase the probability that a successful business results,” he said.

SIUC faculty and staff are eligible for the funding, which can last up to one year. To apply, inventors must be listed as an inventor on the associated invention disclosure. A review committee headed by the associate vice chancellor for research and with representatives from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, the Office of Economic and Regional Development and the Technology Transfer Program will make recommendations for awards based on scientific and business factors. Final decisions are made by the vice chancellor for research.

Grant-seekers can submit applications anytime during the year.

The funding will bridge the area left by a dearth of government funding, which usually does not cover early, “concept-proving” work on new inventions. But funding new technologies at that point can often make a critical difference in their ultimate development, said Jeff Myers, senior technology transfer specialist at SIUC.

“It can be common that technologies need an incremental step to become licensed or commercialized, but can’t get funding from traditional funding sources -- the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes for Health or agencies like that,” Myers said. “Programs like these fill that gap, and they’re growing in popularity.”

For more information, visit http://www.techtransfer.siuc.edu/poc/ or call or contact Myers at jmyers@siu.edu or by calling618-453-4511.

New Saluki Concept Fund for scale-up research projects

The following appeared in the SIUC Technology Transfer December 2010 Newsletter. To read the newsletter and to subscribe for future issues, visit http://www.techtransfer.siuc.edu/signup.html. Or, visit the Saluki Concept Fund webpage.

A new fund will help Southern Illinois University Carbondale researchers and inventors make the leap from idea to commercialization.

The Saluki Concept Fund, a new venture of SIUC’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Technology Transfer Program of the Office of Research Development and Administration will offer individual awards of up to $20,000 to support short-term projects designed to show that an invention has potential for commercialization licensing or as the basis for a start-up company. These projects – called proof-of-concept studies – are often needed to show potential licensees or investors that an invention, idea or technology will work in an applied setting.

Studies of this kind are normally not funded by federal, state or other traditional funding sources. The Saluki Concept Fund will fill in the gap, supporting projects of up to one year that aim to “scale-up” research or show marketing and licensing viabilities.

“Research universities like SIUC are counted on to be economic engines, in part from new companies that spin off from the patents invented there,” John A. Koropchak, vice chancellor for research and graduate dean, explained. “Getting from a patent to a business has many challenges including finding the means to construct a prototype or conduct market research. This program is intended to bridge that gap and increase the likelihood that the best ideas can be successfully developed to create new jobs in southern Illinois.”

Jeff Myers, senior technology transfer specialist at SIUC said similar programs have been successfully implemented at other research institutions, and SIUC’s program has been under consideration for some time.

“The timing is right for this program,” Myers said. “We have an increasing number of innovations that could benefit right away from this new fund.”

All SIUC faculty and staff are eligible for proof-of-concept funding, provided the applicant is listed as the inventor on the required invention disclosure. All awards are subject to the availability of funds.

Information on the fund is available from the University’s Technology Transfer Program at (618) 453-4511 or online at http://techtransfer.siuc.edu/poc/.

New SIUC Startup Activity

From the SIUC Technology Transfer Success Stories Wegpage

SIUC's Dr. Ken Anderson and colleagues have established Thermaquatica, Inc, a start-up company based upon their research in the Department of Geology, College of Science. Thermaquatica is working to commercialize green technology for the production of chemical feedstocks from coal and other organics. The company recently obtained the rights from the University to develop the technology. The research was funded by a grant from the Illinois Clean Coal Institute. For more information contact him directly at kanderson@thermaquatica.com or via SIUC Tech Transfer at techtran@siu.edu.

SIUC professor gathers moss for anti-cancer drug

Southern Business Journal
By Codell Rodriguez, The Southern
Posted: Monday, September 27, 2010

CARBONDALE — With a little bit of moss, Aldwin Anterola, hopes to make a more affordable anti-cancer drug.

The assistant professor in plant biology at SIUC is using moss to try and make a more cost effective way to produce the chemotherapy drug Taxol. He will discuss his research at the SIUC Technology

and Innovation Expo on Oct. 8, at

Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Building.

Taxol is produced from the Pacific Yew tree, which Anterola is scarce and led to higher prices. He said there have been discoveries on how to make the drug from the tree’s clippings.

“Even with the advances it’s still expensive,” Anterola said.

Anterola transfers the abilities of the yew to the Physcomitrella patens moss to find an alternate production for the drug. Work on the ent-kaurene/kauranol synthase in the moss revealed that a biosynthetic machinery controlled by a single gene can be diverted to produce anticancer compounds.

Anterola said with the expenses patients build up from doctor’s visits and procedures, “the only thing that can be cut is the drugs.”

He said he began looking into the process because he knows a lot of people with cancer and because Taxol was discovered through public funding.

“I think we owe the public since taxpayer money led to discovering Taxol,” Anterola said. “We should do something about the cost of Taxol.”

codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com

618-351-5804

DIABLA looks to improve medicine

By Codell Rodriguez, The Southern, thesouthern.com, Posted: Sunday, September 12, 2010

CARBONDALE - Drugs react differently for different people and an invention out of SIUC determines how the medi-cines work.

Luke Tolley, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is the co-creator of Dynamic Isoelectric Anisotropy Binding Ligand Assay (DIABLA). The process uses high voltage to separate the proteins from each other in a capillary. Tolley said researchers look to see which proteins attach to the drug mole-cules.

Tolley will talk about DIABLA at the SIUC Technology and Innovation Expo Friday, Oct. 8, in the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Building. Tolley said he will talk about recent data being researched through DIABLA, including a study on aminoanthracene, a common compound that can be found in cigarette smoke, damaging the pancreas of lab rats and leading to diabetes.

He said the process will also be used with re-searchers out of Norway working on cancer stem cells. He said they have drugs that can kill the cancerous cells but they don't know how they work.

"It's hard to make a compound more effective if you don't know how it works," Tolley said.

Tolley created DIABLA about four years ago with fellow chemistry and biochemistry professor, Matthew McCarroll. He said DIABLA is important because drugs do not act the same for everyone and some drugs have positive results but how they reach that result is a mystery.

"We've been using Ty-lenol for 50 years and we still don't know how it works," Tolley said.

He said an example of drugs working differently is BiDill, a drug for congestive heart failure that only works with African American patients. Another is Gleevec, a cancer fighting drug that will not work if certain mutations are present. Tolley said DIABLA could identify such variations and make it to where a patient would not have to go through taking a medicine that isn't going to work for them.

"It wouldn't solve every problem with drugs but it certainly could help in many applications," Tol-ley said.

He said he has set up a company to use DIABLA commercially but being a full-time professor the process is rather slow. Tolley said he is looking forward to speaking at the expo because people should know exactly what SIUC researchers are capable of.

"We really do some great stuff here," Tolley said.

codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com

618-351-5804

Southern Illinois University Carbondale and School of Medicine holding steady on technology transfer activities

The Southern Illinois University Carbondale Technology Transfer Program recently announced fiscal year 2010 patent and licensing activity statistics for SIUC and the SIU School of Medicine.

Twenty-nine new inventions were disclosed, six new licenses or options executed, 15 US patent applications filed, and two patents were issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

"Our technology transfer activity is holding up very well in view of the tough economic times. A particularly important indicator of success is that two of our licensees are start up companies based on University research located here in Carbondale," Senior Technology Transfer Specialist Jeff Myers said. "Our licensing activity for inventions from previous years is also showing good results."

SIUC is increasingly active in the field of technology transfer and commercialization. Over the past decade, SIU Carbondale and School of Medicine have disclosed 217 inventions, issued 54 licenses/options, filed 113 patent applications with a resulting 39 issued patents, and received more than $3.8 million in royalties.

The SIU Carbondale Technology Transfer Program helps University inventors with inventions and intellectual property resulting from University research. The program conducts invention assessment, files patent applications, and develops strategies to market and license technologies to existing businesses and start up companies.

For more information, visit http://techtransfer.siuc.edu, or go directly to the Tech Transfer Stats Page.

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

FutureGen and Economics

Note: This post was meant for the SIUC Energy Tech Blog, but I'll leave it here in case anyone's linking to it.

Recent news: Peabody Energy Acquires Equity Interest in Calera Corporation

The Calera Corporation Technology captures emissions from coal- or gas-fired fuel plants and converts them into green building materials. Another byproduct is fresh water.

FutureGen is seemingly becoming more of a reality as more companies join the roster and more research funding is pumped into the related technologies.

What will the impact be on our region if FutureGen is implemented? In case you missed it, Dr. Ira Altman from SIUC Department of Agribusiness Economics wrote a report entitled

FutureGen: The Economic Impacts of Clean Coal for Illinois

Ira Altman, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Agribusiness Economics
College of Agricultural Sciences
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
June 2007
Link to the full report (pdf).

Table of Contents:

Table of Contents
Summary 3
Introduction 4
Study Area Description 4
Results and Analysis 10
Economic Impacts of Facility Operations – Statewide 11
Economic Impacts of Construction – Statewide 11
Economic Impacts of Facility Operations – Two County Model 12
Appendix A Input-Output Analysis and IMPLAN 14
Appendix B Output Impact- Two County Model 16
Appendix C Output Impact State Model- Facility Operation 23
Appendix D Output Impact State Model- Facility Construction 30

Summary:

This research concludes that the economic impact of locating a coal gasification and carbon sequestration project in either Coles County or Douglas County would result in significant positive economic activity for the state of Illinois and the local economy.

Impact results are calculated using the IMPLAN Professional Version 2.0® for two models: a state level model and a two county model. Report highlights include the following impacts from the operation of a coal gasification facility:

---A $135 million increase in statewide economic output from facility operation
---A $34 million increase in statewide labor income from facility operation
---A $91 million increase in statewide value added from facility operation
---An $11 million increase in tax revenue from facility operation
---An increase of 510 jobs in Illinois from facility operation
---A $258 million increase in statewide economic output from construction
---A $116 million increase in statewide labor income from construction
---An increase of 2,525 jobs in Illinois from construction
---A $85 million increase in local economic output
---A $19.98 million increase in income for local labor
---A $59 million increase in local value added
---A $8.1 million increase in taxes and
---An increase of 360 new jobs to the local area.

Dr. Altman is interested in doing additional research more focused on the impact of Illinois coal from FutureGen.

SIUC team wins fourth in global innovation contest

Saluki Times, March 31, 2010
By Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill -- A team of Southern Illinois University Carbondale researchers, students and entrepreneurs brought home a top prize in a national technology innovation contest.

The team won fourth place at the Global Venture Challenge 2010, a contest based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The SIUC team was one of just 22 finalists from five countries competing for cash prizes at the contest, aimed at finding innovative ideas from graduate students to address the world’s needs for energy and security.

The team pitched the so-called “nanoscopic electronic nose,” a device in which tiny nano-scale wires stand in for the biological smell detector cells present in a mammal’s nose. Because of their tiny size and chemical reactivity, nanowires can detect extremely small concentrations of chemicals in the parts-per-billion range. Sensors based on this technology also are extremely stable and power efficient.

When assembled in arrays of sensors and coordinated by software, such sensors can form a sort of electronic nose that can send detailed information about the environment. Applications might include very small, power-efficient sensors that can send doctors real-time information about a patient’s blood glucose level, for example, or lead to improved radio frequency identification tags -- often used in the retail sales industry, but with many other potential applications -- that can sniff the air for explosives or other chemicals.

The team presenting the device included Andrei Kolmakov, assistant professor in the Department of Physics; Victor Sysoev, a former visiting Fulbright Scholar from Saratov State Technical University in Russia; physics doctoral student Evgheni Stlecov; Renee Favreau, a senior in marketing; Jenni Janssen, assistant director of the SIUC Center for Innovation; Gina Montgomery, a senior in industrial design; and Maryon King, associate professor of marketing. Read More...

SIU To Present System Technology & Innovation Expo March 30

http://www.prweb.com/releases/technology_innovation/expo_biochemistry/prweb3597054.htm

The Southern Illinois University system, which for decades has provided a fertile environment for the development of major technologies, will showcase current research and inventions March 30 when the system presents the Technology and Innovation Expo on the SIU Edwardsville campus.

Edwardsville, Ill. (Vocus/PRWEB ) February 12, 2010 -- The Southern Illinois University system, which for decades has provided a fertile environment for the development of major technologies, will showcase current research and inventions March 30 when the system presents the Technology and Innovation Expo on the SIU Edwardsville campus.

Faculty inventors in the fields of biochemistry, engineering, medicine and pharmacy from SIU Carbondale, SIU Edwardsville and the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield will combine forces to showcase the latest research under way on the three campuses. The Expo also will focus on opportunities for potential partners to help make this cutting-edge research a commercial reality.

The Expo is scheduled from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. that Tuesday in SIUE’s Morris University Center. The event will feature presentations by SIU faculty inventors who have technology to license. The event promises to bring together academics, entrepreneurs and business people to increase awareness of available technologies that can lead to new products and innovations in a networking environment.

“American universities have carried much of the responsibility for technology transfer from the laboratory to the commercialization of ideas and inventions," said SIU President Glenn Poshard. “The SIU system is proud to have played a major role in this endeavor over many years.

“The SIU Technology and Innovation Expo allows the campuses to display our efforts in this process,” he said.

Faculty inventors will present throughout the day, including SIU School of Medicine's William Halford, PhD, who will talk about the latest progress of his work in herpes vaccine. Inventors from SIU Carbondale will reveal the latest research in biofuels and advanced materials startup companies that have resulted from university research.

SIU Edwardsville’s featured inventions range from new drugs for treatment of Alzheimer's to magnetic refrigeration, a promising energy technology.

Keynote talks will be given by successful industry collaborators James Bashkin, chemistry director/co-founder of NanoVir, and Matt Kulig, serial entrepreneur and currently COO for Aisle411.com

Also featured at the Expo in the afternoon will be a panel of experts discussing “Ideas to Markets: Successful Technology Commercialization.” Panel members from industry, university administration, inventors and investors will provide insight into the technology commercialization process.

Throughout the day exhibits and poster presentations by speakers, SIU faculty, students, and event sponsors will be on display in the common areas. The event will include lunch and a catered reception for attendees. Registration is required and tickets are $25 per person.

Event information—including the Expo agenda, speakers, sponsorship opportunities and registration—is available online: http://techtransfer.siuc.edu/tie/s10, or by calling (618) 650-2166.

Sponsors for the event include Ameren Economic Development, Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP, Madison County Community Development, St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, the Madison-Bond Workforce Investment Board and Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois.

The event is being organized by the SIUC Technology Transfer Program, the SIU School of Medicine, the SIUE Graduate School, the SIUE Southwestern Entrepreneurship Center and SIUE’s University Park, a research park on the campus.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale:
Founded in 1869 as a small teachers college, SIU Carbondale is a student-centered, comprehensive research university offering more than 200 majors, minors and specializations. SIUC is a Carnegie II doctoral/research-extensive (the highest category) institution offering more than 60 master’s and 30 doctoral programs. The National Science Foundation ranks SIUC 101st among public universities in the United States for total research and development expenditures, and 142nd among all universities in the country—placing the University among the top 4 percent of U.S. higher education institutions for research.

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine:
The mission of the SIU School of Medicine is to assist the people of Central and Southern Illinois in meeting their health care needs through education, patient care, research and service to the community. The School of Medicine trains caring and competent physicians, while developing new models for providing health care in rural areas. Our medical research provides the engine for continued growth in biomedical related economic development and clinical care. Our 220-plus full-time faculty physicians, who practice as SIU HealthCare, offer primary care and a variety of specialized services, many not available elsewhere in downstate Illinois.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville:
SIU Edwardsville boasts a unique academic portfolio offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the arts and sciences, nursing, education, business and engineering as well as professional degrees in dental medicine and pharmacy. In fiscal year 2009, SIUE faculty and staff received more than $29 million in grants and contracts for research, teaching and service initiatives. For the fifth consecutive year, U.S.News & World Report has heralded SIUE for its Senior Assignment Program, and lists SIUE among the top 15 public Master’s universities in the Midwest and in the top one-third of all public and private Midwestern universities. Also, in its 2010 Best College edition, U.S. News included SIUE as one of 77 “up and coming” schools in the nation, specifically referring to SIUE as “firmly focused on improving the job they’re doing today.”

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