A new conflict of interest program at the University of Minnesota addresses concerns that arise when Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and/or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants could be used to fund a startup company based on a university technology.

The new program helps facilitate the creation of startups by enabling U of M faculty members to have a more active role than they had previously. It also gives the startup the ability to contract for use of university facilities while undertaking phases of an SBIR/STTR grant.

Learn more

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But what’s the shortest distance among hundreds of points? Distinguished McKnight University Professor Saif Benjaafar draws on knowledge of engineering, economics, computing and business to determine the most efficient way to manage complex supply chains.

“How do we design supply chains with the environmental footprint in mind?” he asks. 

A mechanical engineering professor until recently, Benjaafar has spent the past decade getting the Industrial and Systems Engineering program off the ground. Since its launch three years ago, the program has attracted a growing population of students and talented faculty. The program is on its way to becoming the newest department within the College of Science and Engineering. And its evolution reflects Benjaafar’s overall mission as a researcher.

“The program has taken engineering to a higher level,” he says. “It ties in broad societal concerns and challenges. It accounts for the human element.”

The McKnight grant will help him support more students, and offer multi-year research positions that are more attractive to students and post-docs. It will also help him pursue longer-term, riskier projects.

Connecting the dots

Benjaafar’s discoveries about everyday business practices may prolong the livability of the planet. His research combines several disciplines to examine the entire product life cycle — raw material extraction, manufacturing, distribution, warehousing and retail.

In the process, he is collaborating with researchers in France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium and China. His team works with faculty from nearly every college on campus, while maintaining ties with industry partners.

He explains the etching on the glass panels in his office make up a “minimum spanning tree,” a supply chain that connects several nodes in the simplest possible way.

In New York, a bottle of wine from France may have arrived at your table at a lower carbon cost than a bottle from California. If the goal is to get the wine to its destination with minimal environmental damage, then where should the winery locate its plants? How should it source grapes? And how should it manage its distribution network?

Benjaafar seeks the best-case-scenario answers. He says there are opportunities to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of supply chains by rethinking their operation — without necessarily making expensive investments or waiting for new technology to mature.

“Human decision making is at the center of how we manage these systems, and ultimately, how we should design them.”

Learn more about the McKnight programs.

Photos by Andria Peters

The Office of the Vice President for Research is now seeking research proposals that originate from new interdisciplinary groups. Proposals may be for up to two years and a maximum of $250,000 each. Two grants will potentially be awarded.

Key program dates:
Letter of Intent deadline: March 9, 2012
Application deadline: April 16, 2012
Tentative award date: June 2012
Project start date: July 1, 2012
Project completion date: June 30, 2014

Learn more

Email facgrant@umn.edu or call 612-625-2356 with questions.

The road from research to commercialization can be a long one — and obtaining a patent on intellectual property is a key milestone along the way. Congratulations to University of Minnesota faculty and their colleagues who were issued patents this quarter (see partial list below).

Stay tuned for more patent roundups, and click here for details on reporting inventions.

Antibacterial Agents
Inventors: Courtney Aldrich, Ravindranadh Venkata Somu

Electrospraying Method with Conductivity Control
Inventors: David Pui, Da-Ren Chen

Hydrogel Compositions, Devices and Microscale Components
Inventors: Babak Ziaie, Ronald Siegel, Yuandong Gu, Antonio Baldi, Gauri Misra, Paul Loftness, Ming Lei

Indoor Navigation System and Method
Inventor: Stergios Roumeliotis

Ion Gels and Electronic Devices Utilizing Ion Gels
Inventors: Daniel Frisbie, Timothy Lodge

Modified Cytosine Deaminases
Inventors: Reuben Harris, Hiroshi Matsuo

Scleral Depressor for Ophthalmic Surgery
Inventors: Timothy Olsen, Paul Loftness, Art Erdman

Vehicle Positioning System Using Location Codes in Passive Tags
Inventors: Craig Shankwitz, Mathew Bevilacqua, Max Donath, Lee Alexander, Pi-Ming Chen, Alec Gorjestani, Bryan Newstrom

Virtual Dental Patient
Inventors: Bill Douglas, Ralph DeLong

The following posts received the most views in 2011. Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing your ideas. We’re excited to deliver a new lineup of stories, tips and updates in 2012.

Major Investments Announced in 11 Research Infrastructure Projects

$12 million in funds derived from the university’s share of technology commercialization royalties will be invested to enhance key infrastructure in support of research and scholarship at the University of Minnesota. Read more

Register now for Write Winning Grants

One of the most popular grant writing courses available on campus, this seminar comprehensively addresses both practical and conceptual aspects that are important to the proposal-writing process. Read more

John Watkins: Distinguished McKnight University Professor

“Stop thinking about land masses and start thinking about waterways,” declares English professor John Watkins. “The world changes drastically. And you get a very different kind of literary history.” Read more

Marc Hillmyer: Distinguished McKnight University Professor

Marc Hillmyer’s office is a spare, bright green island on the second floor of Smith Hall. In the hallway outside his door, students and researchers in chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science generate a low buzz of conversation as they wait. Read more

Elizabeth Amin: MSI Fellow

Deep in a basement under a Twin Cities campus library, Elmo, Itasca and Blade are at work. They’re running high-level quantum calculations in the war against anthrax and other biological and chemical weapons, commanded by Elizabeth Amin. Read more

“TALENs and engineered meganucleases are already commercially available. Which technology will dominate is not yet clear: there are still many unknowns, in particular about TALEN function as discussed in several of the pieces in this issue. But the price at which researchers in regular research labs can obtain good tools is likely to play a role.” ~Nature Methods

TAL effector nucleases technology formed the basis of a startup, Cellectis Plant Sciences, which has already begun manufacturing and selling TALENs.

See Nature Methods’ special collection of articles and a related video to learn more.

The Office of Management and Budget has released guidance to federal agencies on accelerating the spending of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. See the memorandum for details: OMB Memorandum M-11-34.

Nearly 85 percent of ARRA awards have been paid out or obligated as of September 2011. To accelerate the spending of the remaining funds, OMB has set out a new policy for the awards to be spent by Sept. 30, 2013, or the agency may reclaim them to the extent permitted by law.

Each federal agency is establishing targets, timetables and programmatic objectives. The National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health have released notices specifying how they will meet the new policy terms and conditions, to ensure that remaining balances are spent in a timely manner.

The University of Minnesota has identified 31 ARRA-funded projects with end dates of Sept. 30, 2012 or later. These projects are the most likely to be impacted by this acceleration — either because their end dates will be shortened by the agency or because they will not be eligible for a full-year, no-cost time extension if the principal investigator desires one.

Sponsored Projects Administration staff will contact these PIs in January to discuss the potential impact of the revised requirements and to investigate alternatives.

Join the Office for Technology Commercialization for a free workshop on financing startups based on University of Minnesota research. A panel of investors will answer questions about the financing process.

All U of M researchers are invited to attend, including faculty, graduate students and post-docs. RSVP online by Feb. 13.

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012
5:00-7:00 p.m.

Campus Club
Room A/B/C
300 Washington Ave. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Agenda

5:00-5:15   Networking with beer, wine and appetizers
5:15-6:45   Presentation
Financing a startup
Jeff Sellner, principal, CliftonLarsonAllen

Panel discussion
Doug Johnson, director, Venture Center
Randy Hines, managing partner, Oak Ridge Financial
Tom Kieffer, CEO, Virteva
Joy Lindsay, president and co-founder, StarTec Investments, LLC
Kathy Tune, partner, Thomas, McNerney & Partners

6:45-7:00   Networking

Applicants must submit their proposals electronically by Feb. 6, 2012. Compliance approvals will be processed electronically as well.

See application instructions.

Questions? Call 612.625.2356 or email the Research Advancement Office.

Starting Jan. 1, 2012, all University of Minnesota staff and faculty must register in advance for international travel related to university business. There is no travel approval process associated with this change — departments, units or colleges will still manage approval requirements.

The updated travel policy makes it easier to provide travelers with helpful information prior to departure, as well as prompt assistance overseas if needed.

Planning international travel? Register here.

Learn more about the policy and see a list of FAQs.

Want to request a presentation on the policy changes at an upcoming meeting? Email Stacey Tsantir.

Photo via Flickr

]]> http://researchumn.com/2011/12/23/change-to-u-of-ms-international-travel-policy/feed/ 0 Travel edaniels74 Travel