Teaming to Win corporate sponsors with U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller

TechConnectWV partnered with Teaming to Win on the 2011 conference held May 31 - June 1 at Stonewall Resort.  More than 300 people participated in the event, which included keynote addresses, panel discussions, one-on-one sessions with agency reps, exhibits, and a lot of networking.  Senator Rockefeller delivered the keynote address at the banquet on Tuesday evening.  

Teaming to Win Banquet 2011

Dr. Anthony Cugini, Director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, spoke at the luncheon on Wednesday.               

Teaming to Win Co-Chair Arria Whiston and NETL Director Dr. Anthony Cugini

A special thanks to all who participated in TechConnectWV's learning track, including Kristina Oliver, State Director of the WV SBDC; Guy Peduto, Director of the INNOVA Commercialization Group; Tom Minnich, Director of Business Development & Special Projects at RCBI; Patricia Lee, Director of the Entrepreneurship Law Clinic at WVU College of Law; Ryan Wall, Director of the Innovation and 

Ryan Wall and Patricia Lee

Entrepreneurship Center at Wheeling Jesuit University; Matt Wender of Jobs Investment Trust; and Joe Brouse of the Natural Capital Investment Fund.   

     Five lucky people took home new iPads as doorprizes. which generated a great deal of excitement at the conclusion of the conference.

TechConnectWV is pleased to welcome Dr. Karel Schubert home to West Virginia as the Executive Director of the Bioscience Association of West Virginia (BioWV).  A Morgantown native and WVU grad, Dr. Schubert has a wealth of experience in biotechnology--at major universities and in the private sector. Most recently, he founded and is the CEO of BioSynectics, a bioscience firm in St. Louis.

Dr. Karel Schubert

            While on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Schubert's research led to solutions to control major crop pests, a billion dollar problem in the nation.  He also helped to establish the Oklahoma technology commercialization center and founded Protech, a bioscience firm aimed at reducing crop loss from pests, pathogens, and parasites.

            He has an extensive track record of securing grant funding, has authored more than 80 professional papers, and traveled around the world sharing is knowledge of biosciences.  In Malaysia, he joined an advisory panel on biotechnology in that country's effort to develop the biosciences industry.

            TechConnectWV looks forward to working with Dr. Schubert and BioWV to create biotech jobs in West Virginia. 

TechConnectWV Announces Biometrics Commercialization Awards to Two Firms 

The winners of TechConnectWV's biometrics commercialization awards program are SecurLinx of Morgantown and IRC Federal of Weston and Fairmont.  Launched in January, the program aims to spur private sector growth in biometrics. 

SecurLinx was awarded a $15,000 grant from TechConnectWV to further the design, software programming, and hardware prototyping of IdentiTrac^®, an operating system for biometrics that bridges the gap between biometric service providers (BSPs) and the consumer market.  The target markets are post-colonial and young democracies struggling to overcome a history of corruption and electoral malfeasance that often leads to violence.  

Awarded $10,000 from TechConnectWV, IRC Federal will develop an integrated biometric application using commercial-off-the-shelf technologies and a customized

Brad DeRoos and Bob Wentz of IRC Federal, Anne Barth of TechConnectWV

software interface to provide mobile voice verification and geo-location in a cost-effective manner.Potential markets include a low cost child check-in app, enhanced security monitoring systems, elder care monitoring, and law enforcement applications.

Computer Sciences Corporation is assisting TechConnectWV with administration of the awards program and facilitating award recipients' access to subject matter experts.  For additional information regarding the TechConnectWV commercialization program, contact Preston Miller, CSC Identity Labs, Fairmont, WV, 304-333-7527 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            304-333-7527      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or Anne Barth, TechConnectWV, 304-444-2918 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            304-444-2918      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

The WV Higher Education Policy Commission hosted an "Opportunities in Innovation" conference on May 25 for the state's primarily undergraduate colleges and universities.  Highlighting ongoing undergraduate research, the event provided a forum for faculty from several institutions to discuss recent advances in science and technology.   In his greeting and remarks, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller underscored the importance of research as an engine for economic growth and noted that those attending the conference are those who will bring about the changes needed to fuel the economy.  

Jennifer Hammaker (ITN), Dr. Ulises Toledo (WV State University), Jennifer Kmiec (Marshall University)

 TechConnectWV presented the findings of its Innovation Transfer Consortium Study, designed to assess the need for tech transfer activities among the state's smaller colleges and universities.  Jennifer Hammaker with the Innovation Transfer Network in central Pennsylvania shared best practices and success stories with conferees.  TechConnectWV will move forward with plans to establish a similar consortium in West Virginia.

Cost-saving technology developed by Nodalynx, a Philippi firm, has been installed by the Central Barbour Public Service District to allow for remote monitoring and control of its water system.  The technology, known as "Intelligent Nodal Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition" (INSCADA), originated from another Barbour County firm, Extreme Endeavors, and focuses on technology designed to solve monitor and control needs.    

In announcing the installation, Mike Masterman, President of Extreme Endeavors, said, "With the production capabilities of Nodalynx and the engineering and innovation provided by Extreme Endeavors, you will soon see product lines coming out that will not only help control water flow throughout the county, but help companies meet their environmental monitoring needs and improve production."   

Nodalynx has also designed a system that can monitor individual rain drops through an infrared beam of light, as well as a system to control the heating unit at the Tucker County Court House.

June 27-30 - BIO 2011, Washington, DC

June 28 - Energy Match, hosted by the Energy Alliance, Pittsburgh

July 28 - Summer Research Symposium, Marshall University, Huntington, WV

 August 7-12 - Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Academy, WVU College of Business and Economics Center for Executive Education, Morgantown, WV