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
Carbon Diversion, LLC
Carbon Diversion, LLC — a Hawai‘i company — was granted an option for an exclusive license for the State of Hawai‘i for the Flash Carbonization™ process developed by Dr. Michael Antal of the Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute. Inquiries from other firms, in the US and around the world, are being addressed. Charcoal produced via Flash Carbonization™ has a number of commercial uses, including barbeque charcoal, boiler fuel, filtration, and activated charcoal.
The University's licensing approach has been to grant territorial exclusivity with regard to production of Flash Carbonization™ charcoal and non-exclusive rights to sell such charcoal worldwide. The UH is especially interested in licensing arrangements that give UH the opportunity to take an equity interest in its Flash Carbonization™ licensees.
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.