University Venture Development Fund

UO announces first projects to receive funds through new tax credit program

Awards will advance power-saving lighting and a technique to assess hearing capability in young or ill

Inspired by his work with barn owls, UO biology professor Terry Takahashi aims to build a prototype for a new tool for evaluating hearing in patients too young or too ill to indicate awareness of sounds. His work is supported by gifts to Oregon's University Venture Development Fund. (Photo: Michael McDermott)

The projects, which are the first to receive funding through the program since its launch in October, involve developing prototypes for technologies with wide-ranging applications.

One research team is pursuing a new means of low-cost, high-efficiency lighting. The other project aims to build a device capable of diagnosing the hearing capabilities of patients too young or too ill to indicate awareness of sounds.

A total of $58,008 will fund the next major step needed toward the hoped-for  commercialization of each project.

"Our experience at the University of Oregon shows that relatively small strategic investments during these stages can be crucially important over the long term," said Rich Linton, vice president for research and graduate studies. "The innovations we have selected for the first round of awards from the UO's University Venture Development Fund have compelling potential to provide great social and economic benefit."

Funding Recipients

• Mark Lonergan, professor of chemistry and director of the UO Materials Science Institute, together with David Stay, a graduate student in Lonergan's chemistry lab, will engineer a prototype for a new lighting technology. Their patent-pending work has applications in the semiconductor industry and for consumer products ranging from under-cabinet lighting to streetlights. If successful, their innovation will significantly improve on the stability and efficiency of polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells used for solid-state lighting. One-fifth of the nation's electricity goes for lighting, and the Department of Energy's goal is to increase efficiency by at least 50 percent through advances in solid-state lighting.
• Terry Takahashi, professor of biology and director of the UO Institute of Neuroscience, will create the first prototype of a device to evaluate hearing that does not depend on a patient's ability to answer questions. The concept arises from Takahashi's work with barn owls, which led to the discovery that the pupils of the eyes dilate reliably in response to sounds. Recently completed trials found that the pupilary dilation response is as reliable as conventional ways of testing human hearing.

Chemistry professor Mark Lonergan (left) and graduate student David Stay are developing a promising new means of solid-state lighting at the University of Oregon's Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories. Work on the prototype is supported by gifts to Oregon's University Venture Development Fund. (Photo: Michael McDermott)

"We are grateful to donors for supporting our state's efforts to bridge the gap between basic research funding and private investment," Bean said. "Our goal is to deliver on the potential of university research while training the next generation of entrepreneurial business leaders and helping to seed new businesses that will stay in Oregon."

Bean said the UO identifies funding recipients through its Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program, which provides interdisciplinary teams of M.B.A., law and science students real-world experience in the commercialization of intellectual property.

Under the venture development fund program, donors can receive a 60 percent tax credit by contributing to one or more funds at state-supported universities in Oregon. The legislature has authorized participating campuses to receive up to $14 million in tax-credit-eligible donations.

Since the tax credits went on line in October, the UO has received gifts totaling $721,062. The UO can award the 60 percent tax credit on the first $3.27 million in gifts designated for its venture development fund.

To learn more about participating in the University Venture Development Fund program at the University of Oregon, email uvdf@uoregon.edu.

Posted June 5, 2008