University of Cincinnati : Innovation + Job News

As part of a global environmental concern about trash, a University of Cincinnati team proposed the “Renew Trash Compactor,” a new product and service that reduces trash, increases recycling, improves sanitation and generates income for the Padli Gujar village in India.
 
Mark Schutte, Carmen Ostermann, Morgen Schroeder and Autumn Utley, all University of Cincinnati students, headed to Minnesota to present their compactor in the next round of the Acara Challenge.
 
The competition is organized by the Acara Institute and administered by the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, with the mission to mold students into a new generation of leaders by providing them with insight into global issues and how to influence change.
 
The environmental challenge given to students came through “Take The Challenge for Sustainable Design and Development,” a multidisciplinary course offered as part of the University Honors Program at UC. The course is taught by Rajan Kamath, associate professor of management, and Ratee Apana, associate professor-educator of management/international business.
 
“The course encourages students to think boldly and break with convention and rules,” Apana says.
 
First-round winners from all competing universities are fine-tuning business plans in the second-round of the competition, where four winning teams will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship and the opportunity to attend the University of Minnesota Acara Summer Institute in Bangalore, India.
 
The UC team, one of six in the country from colleges such as Duke University, Cornell University, Arizona State University, is paired with industry mentors to create business plans for their ideas.
 
“The compactor was designed to be simple and affordable,” Utley says.“The waste collection service, which accompanies the compactor, will generate 29 well-paying jobs for the community and additional household income.”
 
If the team makes it to the summer institute in India, members will meet with top entrepreneurs and capitalists to further develop their idea and help secure funding.


Source: Ratee Apana, Autumn Utley
Writer: Evan Wallis

Tucked away in Clifton on the medical side of UC's campus, researchers at the nation’s first Center for Environmental Genetics continue groundbreaking work, but with a new twist.

Their latest research game-changer involves decades worth of carefully documented biological samples now available for use by their peers all over the world.

If you have never heard of the Center for Environmental Genetics, you are not alone. Housed within the largest department of UC’s College of Medicine, the Department of Environmental Health, the CEG funds research on genetic (your personal script, already written at birth) and epigenetic (beyond genetics – how what you are exposed to today may impact your children’s genes and even further down the line) levels.

Conducting epigenetic studies can be particularly challenging, since multiple generations and variations of exposures are involved. That’s where a long-term human cohort study, started years ago as part of a $78 million settlement at the Fernald Feed Materials Processing Center, comes into play.

For years, residents around the Fernald plant had no idea that their neighbor was manufacturing uranium, not livestock feed. The long-term drama that ensued as the plant was shut down became the stuff of class action lawsuit history. What many residents wanted as much as restitution for their poisoned property was medical help and advice about how their homes might have made them, and their children, and their children’s children, sick.

So the settlement included an important stipulation: the largest medical monitoring project of its kind. From 1990 until 2008, residents were monitored and samples collected from all ages and all backgrounds. The cohort included multi-generational families, with sample collections coded to reflect their relationships.

At the end of the monitoring period, 160,000 biological samples from more than 9,500 participants are now stored at UC’s CEG. Not only can they be used to help examine and improve the lives of the participants and their families, but they can also be sent to researchers around the world who need stable, high-quality samples for their own genetic and epigenetic research.

Locally, doctors found evidence of increased cancer risk among residents, but they also were able to suggest opportunities that might help lower residents’ other risk factors, including the incidence of diabetes and heart disease.

As researchers and community members gathered on UC’s campus last month to discuss the decades-long project, participants and researchers agreed that, when done correctly and comprehensively, medical monitoring leads to both better health and better research.

Source: University of Cincinnati
Writer: Elissa Yancey

This story originally appeared in sister publication Soapbox.

The idea of putting hearing aids on a dog may, to the uninitiated, seem like an extravagant splurge, the kind of move reserved for those with money to burn. But not to a team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati. It's one of several innovative projects designed to better understand how animals hear and communicate, with the hope of making the world more comfortable for both humans and our animal counterparts.

"This research has been going on for some time," says Pete Scheifele, PhD, head of UC's Facility for the Education and Testing of Canine Hearing and Lab Animal Bioacoustics (FETCH-LAB). "However, the noise impacts on animals have not been on the forefront, especially on animals that are domestic or captive."

Scheifele explains that, for years, vets and animal researchers paid little attention to hearing loss in animals such as domestic dogs. Owners who brought in their pets with concerns over hearing loss often saw vets use primitive tests, such as jingling keys or snapping and looking for reactions. When researchers started using pediatric hearing-test equipment to study dogs, however, an alarming trend surfaced: About 60 dog breeds showed a tendency toward congenital deafness, due in part to inbreeding.

"The awareness kind of shot up, because everyone's worried about having a deaf dog," he says. "It's had a domino effect."

Now, vets and researchers are working to identify causes of animal deafness, especially in service animals such as police and rescue dogs.

"Your job, perhaps your life, may depend on your working partner," Scheifele says.

FETCH-LAB scientists have also explored ways to combat excessive noise in places supposed to meet physical and mental needs. Kennels, for example, often have highly reflective walls and ceilings that bounce barks and yips into an annoying - and potentially harmful - cacophony.

"Kennels are made to be washed, not for hearing safety," he says.

The FETCH-LAB team recently installed sound-dampening panels at the League for Animal Welfare's kennel in Batavia, and is studying their effects on the sound levels and the health of both canine inhabitants and employees. And although Scheifele says testing is still underway, LFAW Director Mary Sue Bahr says that the panels are having a significant effect.

"Our goal for all of the dogs in our care is to provide a clean, healthy, friendly, stress-free environment for them,” says Bahr in a UC press release. "Having these sound panels helps us to fulfill that goal—and it’s also nice for our staff and volunteers. In reducing the sound levels, it helps them have a more enjoyable time here.”

Scieifele says FETCH-LAB also studies hearing and hearing loss in horses and marine animals, and is in the process of publishing a paper on optimizing aquarium design to provide stimulating - but not overwhelming - amounts of noise for captive inhabitants. The work, he explains, could both improve lives for animals, and could effect the way human hearing and noise control takes shape in the future.

"We often come back with information that's useful and say, 'we never thought about this in humans,'" he says. "We help the animals, and they help us."

Source: Pete Scheifele, University of Cincinnati
Writer: Matt Cunningham

This story originally appeared in sister publication Soapbox.

A University of Cincinnati neurobiologist may soon help mental health researchers understand depression at a more effective level than ever before, thanks to an innovative research method and a nearly-quarter-million-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health.

James Herman, PhD, received a two-year NIH grant worth $248,159 in its first year to fund research into the role that microRNA (miRNA) - molecular-level controllers that help regulate the brain's chemistry -- play in how the brain reacts to stress.

"We're attempting to develop this as a discovery platform to understand what's going on in the brain," Herman says. He explains that this research, in which scientists analyze how miRNA in mice affect the brain's mood-regulating prefrontal cortex, is very early-stage work in the exploration of the molecular process behind depression.

But the ultimate implications of Herman's work could be significant. He explained that miRNA in mice function the same as miRNA in humans: identify a link between mouse miRNA and a brain dysfunction, and there's good reason to look for a similar relationship in the human brain. Beyond this tantalizing fact, though, scientists don't completely understand how miRNA works, or even how many types of miRNA exist in the brain.

Herman's team is tackling this hurdle with a new analysis technique, called deep sequencing, to analyze miRNA at a high level of detail.

"The method is really, really powerful," he says. Processing one set of data from a sample, for example, can keep lab computers running nonstop for a weekend. Thanks to a collaboration with informatics researchers at the University of Michigan, Herman's team can spot relationships and patterns in this sea of data, results that could help scientists link certain miRNA function -- or dysfunction -- to the stress-processing problems underlying depression and mood disorders.

These results could eventually give psychiatrists a new weapon against mood disorders. Rather than giving a patient medicine that floods the brain with mood-altering chemicals - a practice that often comes with severe side effects - physicians could one day provide treatment that fixes the way the brain controls its own chemistry. Medicine has a long way to go to reach that point, but the work Herman's team is undertaking at UC could be a major step in the right direction.

Source: James Herman, University of Cincinnati
Writer: Matt Cunningham

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication, Soapbox.

A team of recent University of Cincinnati grads hope to commercialize a portable stroke detection device created in the Medical Device Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program (MDIEP) at UC's Department of Biomedical Engineering.

The device, Ischiban, has the potential to be a game-changer in the early detection and treatment of strokes, a life-threatening condition where minutes can make a difference in a successful recovery, disability or death.

Ischiban was developed by a group of UC student biomedical and computer engineers and an industrial designer: Pooja Kadambi, Joe Lovelace, Scott Robinson and Alex Androski. They developed the device, comprised of an elastic headband connected to an electronic diagnostic device, which can quickly determine the type of stroke a patient is suffering from. This allows for quick diagnosis and faster treatment for better recovery rates, according to the developers.

Ischiban relies on Impedance Spectroscopy, which can measure electrical property changes in the brain associated with strokes.

"We received the idea to use Impedance Spectroscopy from a group in Massachusetts General Hospital doing research in this area. We developed the device, made prototypes of the parts and built it by ourselves," explained Kadambi, a biomedical engineer.

Strokes are caused by a blood clot in the brain, or bleeding in the brain. Treatment is different based on the type of stroke.

Currently, such stoke differentiation is done by a CT scan, which is costly and time consuming. Ischiban can be used by EMTs at a patient's home or during the ambulance ride. Early detection is important because patients whose stoke is caused by a blood clot who are treated within three hours of symptoms are significantly more likely to survive and recover.

Ischiban is one of 90 entries in the ongoing Cincinnati Innovates contest. The third annual competition offers nearly $90,000 in prizes designed to push forward groundbreaking products and services. It ends July 15, and all entries are posted online. Kadambi said the competition could help Ischiban garner attention and investment.

"Medical device research and development is an expensive, complicated and long drawn out process. We are a passionate team but do not have the funds to carry this forward alone. Winning this competition would open doors for us, help us make great contacts and keep our project alive and on track. Putting Ischiban on the market will help save lives and prevent disability globally and that is a fact," she said.

Source: Pooja Kadambi, Ischiban co-developer
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

This story originally appeared in hiVelocity's sister publication Soapbox.

Cincinnati will be hosting some of the area's leading experts in life science research and entrepreneurship next month, with an eye toward boosting the Ohio Valley's profile in the field.

The ninth annual OVALS (Ohio Valley Affiliates of Life Sciences) conference will bring scientists and research executives from universities of Cincinnati, Kentucky and Louisville, Ohio University and Marshall University together with entrepreneurs and investors to highlight regional initiatives, its success stories and up-and-coming start-ups.

The two-day conference begins April 14 at Cincinnati's Kingsgate Mariott Hotel.

"The conference is a great opportunity to bring together the right mix of scientists and investors," says Dorothy Air, an OVALS chair, associate vice president for entrepreneurial affairs at the University of Cincinnati and vice president of operations with CincyTech. "Networking is a big part of it, but so is just conversation. Scientists and universities don't always know what's going on elsewhere, and how their work relates to others' work."

Speakers include a keynote address from University of Kentucky President Lee F. Todd Jr., a former engineering professor and entrepreneur, along with experts in regulatory issue, clinical trial issues and ushering ideas from the drawing board to the market.

Some of the group's success stories will also be highlighted. David Scholl, president and CEO of Athens-based Diagnostic Hybrids, will talk about those successes as a blueprint for others to follow.

The conference, OVALS' signature event, is expected to draw more than 100 attendees. Since the first conference  was held in 2002, the group has grown from a small network of research and medical universities to include the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, CincyTech, the Bluegrass Business Development Partnership and Cleveland Clinic's Global Cardiovascular Innovation group. Affiliates work together, sharing information and resources and drawing more than $650 million annually in basic and applied research funding to the Ohio Valley.

Source: Dorothy Air, OVALS
Writer: Dave Malaska

SOURCE: SOAPBOX

A former University of Cincinnati architecture student may have graduated in the spring, but his idea to link the university's creative talent to help solve real-world business problems lives on.

Adam Treister, who now works for an Over-the-Rhine real estate developer, is in the process of developing StudentDesigned.com. The social networking website would allow design, engineering, architecture and other creative students to showcase their student work in a central place where business could check it out. Businesses could contact individual students they believe could help them with a project.

"The idea started from a lot of studio projects we'd done. There is a lot of student and professor time, money and resources that go into creating a fictitious product like a building or a clothing line. It's basically an exercise where we practice our skills," and those skills could be put to real life use, Treister said. "The creative studios and companies or government agencies could team up and collaborate on projects."

Treister entered the idea in a couple of entrepreneur-oriented contests, including Cincinnati Innovates, where he came in fourth place just shy of a monetary award. But the publicity that came along with promoting his idea helped move it forward. He's been profiled by several news sites including his hometown paper the Charleston (W.V) Gazette.

He's now working with a well-known software developer, who he asked not be named, to get the site live. He expects it to be off the ground in six to eight months.

"I've already received notices from different companies requesting the help of student architects," Treister said.

In fact, before the site is up Treister may pair up UC students with a West Virginia company looking for a green renovation of an 80,000 sq. ft. building. Such collaboration is a win-win for those involved.

"It's providing a really good opportunity to work on real-world projects and to enhance the education experience," Treister said. "The companies will get an unparallel creative product for an affordable price."

Source: Adam Treister, Student Designed.com
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

As a former high school and college anatomy and physiology teacher, Jason Barkeloo was fascinated by the possibility of synthetically recreating the energy production process within living cells.

His company, Pilus Energy, based in Cincinnati, has found a way to create this process in a "reactor" that can be used to harness energy from organic matter using bacteria to create DC current. In a partnership with Dan Hassett at the University of Cincinnati, the two have pioneered this new green energy that can take organic waste from farms, plant pulps and sewage and make it into electricity.

"We're unlocking another grid," says Barkeloo. "We're providing a de-centralized energy solution that is untapped."

Pilot programs using Pilus' new Pilus Cell "reactor" are taking place at Pacific Gas & Electric in Northern California and at a large agri-business operation, he says. More pilots are in the planning phases as well.

"Our solution is harnessing our genetically engineered bacteria in a microbial fuel cell reactor and harvesting the direct current and hydrogen gas from their metabolism of organic molecules like those found in sewage, farm wastes, river water and plant pulps," says Barkeloo.

Pilus was one of a select group of start-up companies chosen to present their ideas and products at Launch: Silicon Valley 2010 international launch event last June. It was the only Midwest company chosen from among roughly 400 applicants from around the world.

In the next year, Barkeloo says he plans on adding more employees to the four full-time and six part-time consultants he now has, although he declined to project future sales or revenue.

Source: Jason Barkeloo, Pilus Energy
Writer: Val Prevish

Cyber spying is the stuff of blockbuster movies, but it is also a very real nightmare for businesses and government agencies trying to keep their information secure in the age of internet communication.

Northrop Grumman subsidiary Xetron, based in Cincinnati, is partnering with the University of Cincinnati School of Computing Sciences and Informatics to offer its employees and graduate students at UC, coursework designed specifically to address some of the skills needed to prevent cyber security breeches. Students completing the coursework can earn a master's degree in computer science with a focus on cyber informatics.

"(Cyber security) issues are one of the most serious threats we face nationally," says Pabir Bhattacharya, director of the School of Computing Sciences and Informatics. "The more we use the Internet, the more we need to make our transactions secure. With mobile communication like cell phones there is an increased risk."

The 29 employees of Xetron enrolled in the coursework and the roughly two dozen graduate students at the UC campus will learn about skills such as encryption, detecting intrusion, maintaining a secure network and preventing viruses, spyware and malware, says Bhattacharya.

Classes will be held at both the UC campus as well as Northrop Grumman's Xetron facility, with live video feeds connecting the two locations. Both UC professors and Northrop Grumman employees working as adjunct professors for the university will teach.

Skills that students learn through the program are critical in today's information climate, says Martin Simoni, site director for Northrop Grumman's Xetron business unit.

"Educating and developing home-grown talent is critical in today's highly competitive job market," says Simoni. Our cyber master's program will allow our technical experts to groom students on the job and in the classroom."

About 20 percent of Xetron's engineering staff are UC graduates, says Bill Martini, director of engineering and operations, Northrop Grumman Xetron facility. "We want to educate (engineering students) so they can be better prepared for the work force," says Martini.

Sources: Pabir Bhattacharya, University of Cincinnati;  Martin Simoni and Bill Martini, Xetron
Writer: Val Prevish

From the spark of an idea, Noel Gauthier hopes to release a firestorm in the fight against world poverty and its risks.

Gauthier, a graduate student in the University of Cincinnati's industrial design program, took a homework assignment a step further, resulting in FireStop, a low-cost, environmentally responsible fire extinguisher to fight fires in urban slums around the world.

"Our assignment was to create a more ergonomic fire extinguisher," Gauthier says, "but as I looked into it, in most places these days there are sprinkler systems and fire retardant materials. In those places, you don't need a fire extinguisher. So I started to look at where extinguishers are needed."

He soon figured out that low-income housing with dense populations, especially in poorer countries, is where they needed extinguishers the most and set about developing a low-cost solution instead.

FireStop is a one-button system that is made of easily manufactured plastic parts and a cardboard tube, filled with a simple fire retardant compound. Gauthier figures each extinguisher would take $1 to make.

Along with being affordable, Gauthier says he wanted to make FireStop so simple that populations protected by it could also manufacture the extinguisher, eventually turning it into an exportable product and helping fight poverty that's part of the problem to start with.

Others soon saw the value of Gauthier's idea. Last year, FireStop took the $5,000 third prize in the commercialization category of Cincinnati Innovates, a contest to recognize entrepreneurial ideas. Also, the local law firm of Taft, Stettinius and Hollister aided Gauthier by filing FireStop's patent application on a pro bono basis.

Gauthier and his team are working on the final engineering specs for FireStop, which he hopes will be ready to start production by spring. In the meantime, while he's finishing his degree, he's also launched his own design firm, UMi Design and Development. And he's set his sights on FireStop's successor � similarly simple-design alternatives to expensive medical devices.

Source: Noel L. Gauthier, UMi Design and Development
Writer: Dave Malaska

Nearly 5 million people in the last month have logged onto SparkPeople, a free, Cincinnati-based web site designed help people connect with like-minded folks pushing toward their life goals, from weight loss to stress management to fit pregnancy.

SparkPeople was founded in 2001 by University of Cincinnati graduate and former Procter & Gamble employee, Chris Downie, with central mission: to spark millions of people to reach their goals and lead healthier lives. The site does this in a myriad of ways: through nutrition, health and fitness tools, and maybe most importantly, through personal support with online message boards, blogs and social networking groups.

"You can look at just at the name and see how we are different. We try to tap into positive thinking and making a true lifestyle change. So it's not just about health. Using these same techniques, people have told us they got a promotion at job, or are being a better parent. They take small steps and get huge life breakthroughs," Downie said.

Downie started SparkPeople.com with the proceeds of Up4Sale.com, which he sold to Ebay in 1998. It was the online auction site's first acquisition. And though SparkPeople's thrust is health, fitness and weight loss, for some the site has affected their lives in other ways.
SparkPeople has 26 full-time and 6 part-time employees. The company plans to hire several more in the near future.

The site has a total of 8.5 million registered users. Many will use it for a short period of time, leave, then come back months or several years later when they need a refresher.

Within the last year the site has launched SparkAmerica.com, a national campaign to help people of all ages exercise more, eat better, make healthier choices and enjoy active, healthy lives. The company also has launched a section devoted to people with Type II Diabetes and now you can Spark on the go with free mobile apps.

Sources: Chris Downie and Tim Metzner, SparkPeople
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

The University of Cincinnati and Blue Ash-based Ethicon Endo-Surgery have pushed forward their research collaboration to better understand the mechanical, physical, and biochemical changes that happen when people undergo bariatric surgery.

The research goal is to better understand exactly how the procedure causes dramatic weight loss and develop less invasive surgical devices that make the process ultimately more effective and less painful.

Ethicon recently awarded UC's Metabolic Diseases Institute a $13.5 million, three-year research grant extension to study the physiological issues associated with the surgery that is increasingly common in treating obesity. The grant is part of Ethicon's Metabolic Applied Research Strategy (MARS), which also includes research from GI Metabolism Laboratory and Weight Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. develops advanced medical devices for minimally invasive and open surgeries. Its parent company is Johnson & Johnson. Including this new grant, the EES MARS initiative has invested more than $33 million with UC and the GI Metabolism Laboratory and Weight Center at the MGH.

"Ethicon Endo-Surgery is committed to collaborating with clinicians to develop new, comprehensive bariatric solutions while also ensuring that people with obesity have access to current treatment options that can help them achieve sustained weight loss and reduce co-morbidities," says Karen Licitra, Ethicon group Chairperson.

At UC, researchers are studying of why other metabolic procedures, such as vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) and laparoscopic greater curvature plication (LGCP), work. These and other studies have been presented at prestigious national conferences, including most recently the American Diabetes Association Annual Meeting in Florida this past June.

Source: Ethicon Endo-Surgery
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

Both patients and docs benefit when new medical advances reduce the cost, complexity and risks of surgery. Miamisburg-based X-spine has built a growing business on that idea.

Founded in 2004 by spine surgeon and medical device inventor David Kirschman, the company is growing on the strength of nine FDA- approved products.

The company bills itself as "leader in design and development of novel technologies for the spine." That includes the highly successful X90 screw system, a one-piece product that Kirschman, X-spine's CEO, says simplifies the old two-piece system used before.

The company's new Fixcet Spinal Facet Screw System, which received FDA clearance just last week, sports a novel dual thread design, which Kirschman -- X-spine's CEO -- says provides a more stable way to connect bones. Not just that, but it can be put in through the skin of the patient with only a very small incision.

Kirschman says X-spine is growing 20 percent to 30 percent in both revenues and employment, with nearly 30 employees to date. Along the way, it has benefited from Ohio Third Frontier programs like the Entrepreneurial Signature Program, which provided a $300,000 commercialization investment two and a half years ago, and a current University of Cincinnati-led project funded by a $3-million Third Frontier grant for development of a laser metal processing technology for use in transplants.

"Most of our products are manufactured right here in Dayton," says Kirschman. "There are a lot of skilled engineers here and lot of people with good manufacturing skills."

Source: David Kirschman, X-spine
Writer: Gene Monteith

Schools strapped for space and cash, but which have a growing need to provide science students with adequate, up-to-date laboratory equipment, can succeed if they have access to a specialized system that enables resource sharing. That's the theory behind MeasureNet Technology Ltd.'s patented networks.

The key to Measurenet's innovation is the belief that lab hardware and instrumentation don't have to be physically duplicated at each student's work station. The work stations can be networked to a single, centralized, system that allows users to monitor, collect, store, and disseminate laboratory data, as well as share specified laboratory instruments. The energy saving and environmentally friendly design MeasureNet created earned it an Ohio Governor's Award for Excellence in Energy Efficiency in 2002.

The network "makes it possible for students to do a lot of different operations they couldn't do before," says Measurenet's Estel Sprague. Plus, students can access what they need from the network when they are back in their dorms, the library, or elsewhere.

The Cincinnati-based company had its roots in the late 1990s, when Sprague and Robert Voorhees, working at the University of Cincinnati, became part of a team that devised a way to help undergraduate students in chemistry labs use electronic data collection and analysis. With early support coming from UC, the National Science Foundation, and Proctor & Gamble, the project was eventually spun off to become a private company and incubated at the Hamilton County Development Co. in Norwood.

Today, Voorhees and Sprague are Measurenet's president and vice president, respectively.

Customers include vocational and secondary schools throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and even in Saudi Arabia. The company has one fulltime employee, several representatives, and uses co-op students as it continues to grow.

Source: Estel D. Sprague, MeasureNet Technology Ltd.
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs