OTTED has helped transfer numerous technologies from the University of Hawaii to industry. Once in the marketplace, these technologies improve people’s lives, benefiting society and creating jobs to support and grow our community. Showcased below, you will find a select list of success stories, which provide more information on just how UH technologies have been successfully licensed to our industry partners.

Success Stories

Athenix

Athenix, a biotechnology startup working to discover and develop novel technologies and processes for the agricultural and chemical industries received a non-exclusive option for two polyubiquitin gene promoters derived from sugarcane that were developed by Heirong Wei of the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Biosystems of the College of Tropical Agriculture, and Heinrick Albert of the Tropical Plant Physiology, Disease, and Production Unit of the USDA’s Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center.

The two gene promoters regulate when a gene expresses a protein conferring a particular trait or function and can be used in a wide variety of plants for incorporating desirable traits–like insect resistance, or heat or cold tolerance—into new cultivars. The promoters have been tested in sugarcane, rice, pineapple, sorghum, garlic, bananas, corn, and other plants and will be used by Athenix to support its ongoing research and development efforts.

 

Kyocera Wireless

Kyocera Wireless, a manufacturer of innovative wireless consumer products, received a non-exclusive license to Site Planning Software for Wireless Networks developed by Iskander Magdy, Zhengqing Yun, and Zhijun Zhang of the Hawaii Center for Advanced Communication of the College of Engineering. The software allows efficient and accurate estimation of the propagation of cellular phone transmissions within buildings and across towns and cities.