University RECORD-SETTING INNOVATION
LICENSING TECHNOLOGIES
Patent powerhouse
Inventions lead to new products via ‘tech-transfer’
WITH 114 NEW UTILITY PATENTS ISSUED IN 2016, USF ranks fifth among American public universities and 11th among universities worldwide in generating new U.S. patents, according to a new report published by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO). USF’s new record-setting annual patent total also ranked first among Florida universities in what is widely recognized as a measure of institutional productivity and prominence. USF has ranked in the report’s top 10 of American public universities for the past seven years and consistently ranks in the top 20 of global universities. The new ranking is the latest marker of success for USF’s efforts to translate academic research into new technologies, medicines and products. USF’s technology transfer effort provides faculty members with institutional support to patent and license their technologies, credit in the tenure process for inventions, and guidance and early-stage funding in creating their own startup companies. USF joins the University of California System, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the University of Texas System and the University of Michigan in holding the top spots for American public institutions in the ranking. Other Florida universities listed in the top 100 ranking are the University of Florida with 91 patents, the University of Central Florida with 56 patents and Florida State University with 48 patents.
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USF ranks th among American public universities
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th and among universities worldwide in generating new U.S. patents. 12 UNIVERSITY of SOUTH FLORIDA
USF WAS RECENTLY RANKED 19TH OUT OF 200 U.S. universities by the prestigious Milken Institute for its efforts in research commercialization, which noted the university’s rapid rise in commercializing new inventions in the past decade. Here are just five examples of how USF, as the Milken Institute said, “stepped up its game.”
Moterum, LLC Moterum, LLC is the developer of the MTip, a new, patent-pending device for crutch users. The MTip, a small plastic piece that fits on the bottom of a crutch in place of the existing rubber stopper, facilitates more efficient and free movement, including greater traction on hills. The device works through its curved design, which increases the amount of time the crutch propels the user forward, which translates into less effort needed to walk. The innovative crutch tip technology, co-invented by Kyle Reed, PhD, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at USF, and Ismet Handzig, PhD, USF alumnus and Moterum research engineer, received an Innovation Corps grant from the National Science Foundation to explore the customer need and value proposition of the kinetic crutch tip technology. The MTip was exclusively licensed to Moterum from USF. The product launched in April 2016 and is commercially available for purchase.
Dominic D’Agostino Products Dominic D’Agostino, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, specializes in developing and testing metabolic therapies to treat a range of diseases and health problems, from epilepsy to cancer to healing wounds. D’Agostino investigates how diet and cell metabolism interact in diseases and his laboratory works to understand the physiological, cellular and molecular mechanisms that help the body work to its optimum capabilities. His work in promoting health and human performance has gained national attention, especially in