Excerpt: As the University of Connecticut attempts to morph itself into a major player in the technology transfer field, the school has a ways to go before it competes with the big names. In fiscal year 2010, which ended earlier this year, UConn spent $157.8 million on research and brought in $898,141 in license income, according to the annual U.S. Licensing Survey recently released by the Association of Technology Managers.

Michael Newborg, the executive director of UConn’s Center for Science and Technology Commercialization, said the school is strong in many tech transfer categories when compared to peer universities like Oklahoma St., Dartmouth, and the universities of Virginia and Oklahoma, but UConn still has lots of room for improvement when it comes to licensing income.

Still, Newborg said UConn holds its own in several major tech transfer categories. In 2010, for example, UConn reached a milestone with 91 invention disclosures, the most in the school’s history. UConn had 32 patents issued in fiscal 2010, as well as 33 new patent applications. The school generated six new startup companies as well. Click here to read the full article.

UConn researchers have patented a novel instrument that will help assess early in the drug development process how potential new drugs will dissolve in fluids.

Associate professor Robin Bogner and professor Theodore Bergman – along with a pharmacy graduate student and two engineering undergrads – have created a novel instrument that they say will help pharmaceutical companies develop new medicines more efficiently. The instrument – called a dissolution flow cell – is a palm-sized apparatus that allows researchers to view in real time the transition taking place when a small sample of a drug in a solid state dissolves in fluid. Being able to clearly see what is happening in the conversion process and compare those results to the computer analytics helps drug developers identify and address problems quickly, the researchers say.

Leaders in the School of Pharmacy say the patented flow cell invention is a prime example of how UConn’s academic research can assist private industry in addressing issues and improving manufacturing techniques similar to what is being proposed at the University’s new Technology Park. It is also an example of UConn’s leadership in the area of pharmaceutical technology and manufacturing science. Click here to read the full article.