John Argo and Ruxandra Vidu at Q1 Technologies with a 3-d model of the nanobrush, which is 50,000 times the size of the actual structure. layered onto photovoltaic cells, this structure increases effciency by increasing surface area by 700 percent.
Support for entrepreneurs helps green ideas become marketplace solutions
It began in the lab with UC Davis materials science professor Pieter Stroeve, post-doctoral researcher Ruxandra Vidu and graduate student Jie-Ren Ku discovering how to make tiny cables and wires. It’s now contributing to a better world as Q1 NanoSystems of West Sacramento builds on that inspiration to create a new generation of cheap, efficient solar panels.
It’s just one of the great ideas from UC Davis now being made into products for a greener planet thanks to the university’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs and getting breakthrough discoveries into the marketplace.
“The challenge lies in translating environmentally sustainable technologies and research into viable business ventures,” said Andy Hargadon, professor in the Graduate School of Management and director of the Center for Entrepreneurship.
UC Davis’ Graduate School of Management and Office of Research have stepped up to that challenge.
The founders of Q1, like many other ventures spun off from UC Davis, got their start through the Big Bang! business plan competition run by students at the Graduate School of Management. The school also helps young scientists learn about the world of startup enterprise through the Center for Entrepreneurship, including a weeklong “Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy” at Lake Tahoe.
Meanwhile, UC Davis InnovationAccess, part of the Office of Research, helps companies like Q1 NanoSystems get access to UC Davis inventions and expertise, and to take their first steps in the business world.
In these many ways, UC Davis is bringing the fruits of research to market.
2007 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
UC Davis hosts GoingGreen
2007 Seven hundred people attended the GoingGreen 2007 conference at UC Davis, co-presented by the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and the Office of Research, to learn about the most promising emerging green technologies and new entrepreneurial opportunities. Attendees included CEOs, business development officers, eminent researchers, venture capital and private-equity investors, and leading members of the press and blogging community.
Plug-in hybrid technologies licensed
Pioneering inventions in plug-in hybrid vehicle technology and transmission systems developed at UC Davis have been licensed to Efficient Drivetrains Inc. (EDI) of Palo Alto. The technology draws on decades of work by Andy Frank, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering. The company plans to partner with auto designers and manufacturers so they can rapidly introduce advanced plug-in hybrid technology into their vehicles. The company also hopes to establish its own automotive research and development center in Davis.
Airmid licensed to develop candidate drugs
Two exclusive licensing agreements to commercialize potential treatments for multiple sclerosis and psoriasis were completed by UC Davis InnovationAccess and Airmid Inc., a startup company based in Redwood City. The agreements cover patents held by UC Davis and UC Irvine on two novel compounds that could be used to treat autoimmune diseases, in which the body’s own immune system attacks healthy tissue.