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Bill Tucker Appointed Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Technology Commercialization at UC Davis

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Bill Tucker, vice chancellor for Innovation and Technology Commercialization within the UC Davis Office of Research

William (Bill) Tucker has been appointed interim associate vice chancellor for Innovation and Technology Commercialization within the UC Davis Office of Research.

In his interim role, Tucker will assume responsibility of Venture Catalyst, which facilitates the creation of new ventures and technology startups enabled by university innovations. He will continue to oversee the operations of InnovationAccess, which manages the university’s intellectual property.

Tucker has served as executive director of InnovationAccess since March 2017. Prior to his appointment at UC Davis, Tucker was interim vice president of Research and Graduate Studies (RGS) at the University of California Office of the President. RGS serves as a resource for UC researchers and administrators in research policy, funding for systemwide programs, technology transfer, and graduate education. In that role, Tucker led a team that worked to build UC-wide partnerships, shape effective policies and provide a strong voice nationally for UC research and graduate education.

Before that, he served as executive director of Innovation Alliances and Services where he led a team that reviewed, analyzed and recommended policies, programs and tools that helped UC campuses achieve their efforts to build alliances that transfer discoveries from research enterprise to industry in order to create public benefit. Tucker has also previously held private industry leadership roles in business development, licensing and intellectual property. He received a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Queensland, Australia, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California.

A national search has been initiated to fill the position vacated by Dushyant Pathak, former associate vice chancellor for Innovation and Technology Commercialization who stepped down  to pursue an opportunity in industry.

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Connecting the Future: How a UC Davis Invention Helped Build Broadband Communications

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How a UC Davis Invention Helped Build Broadband Communications

n 1997, when broadband communications and the “World Wide Web” were both in their infancy, two UC Davis professors and a graduate student came up with a better way to route data in fiber optic networks. Their patented invention became a critical component for fiber optic communications around the globe, bringing internet and phone traffic to millions of people. (iStock)

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/connecting-the-future-how-a-uc-davis-invention-helped-build-broadband-communications-wss

Jonathan Heritage has never seen a manufactured version of the device he co-invented, although he once saw a prototype at Movaz Networks Inc., the first company to license the patent.

“It fit into one slot on an electronics rack, so it was as wide as that.” Heritage, a retired professor of engineering, held his hands about a foot and a half apart. “It was just a box. But inside, there were a whole lot of electronics, which were needed to drive all those mirrors,” said Heritage.

That nondescript box contained what the telecommunications industry refers to as a wavelength selective switch, known as WSS, a sophisticated device that uses tiny mirrors to route signals between fiber optic cables.

“You can find WSS where a lot of fibers come together for information flow, such as switching facilities in big cities,” said Heritage.

When Heritage and his co-inventors at UC Davis first conceived of WSS in the mid- to late-1990s, broadband was mostly just an idea, and the internet, or more specifically the World Wide Web, was in its infancy but growing rapidly.

In 1997, only 18 percent of U.S. households were using the internet, and Amazon, “the leading online retailer of books,” was only three years old. Google wouldn’t be founded until the following year, and AOL’s 10 million subscribers were mostly using dial-up connections through their telephone lines to get internet access.

About that same time, telecommunications companies were beginning to build fiber optic networks that could carry significantly more data than the traditional copper wire used in the phone systems.

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UC Davis Selects Global Plant Genetics, Ltd. for Strawberry Licensing in Europe, Mediterranean and South America

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Strawberries in basket

A new University of California strawberry cultivar, UC9, is harvested in Prunevale, California. The goal of the breeding program is to develop new, commercially useful varieties of strawberry plants that have higher-quality berries, are less vulnerable to pests and diseases and can be grown more efficiently. (UC Davis)

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/uc-davis-selects-global-plant-genetics-ltd-for-strawberry-licensing-in-europe-mediterranean-and-south-america

The University of California has entered into a master agreement with Global Plant Genetics, Ltd., based in Norfolk, England, for the sublicensing of new strawberry varieties in selected countries within Europe, the Mediterranean and South America. The agreement governs the commercialization of new varieties from the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program located at the University of California, Davis.

GPG will work with UC Davis researchers, plant nurseries and fruit producers to test the commercial potential of new strawberry varieties in the specified territories. If the parties agree to move forward with commercialization of a variety in the covered territories, GPG will implement and manage the licensing of the varieties to growers for fruit production, distribution and eventual sale to consumers. This new arrangement will not impact the university’s current licensing program for the California strawberry industry.

“I greatly appreciate the effort everyone has put into creating this partnership. The dedicated and professional team at GPG will provide the university with a strong and well established business for delivering newly developed UC Davis cultivars to several important international markets,” said Professor Steve Knapp, director of the breeding program.

“We are truly excited to be representing the world’s number-one strawberry breeding program,” said Rupert Hargreaves, director of GPG. “The quality of plant breeding, access to modern science, huge gene pool and impressive team of people give us confidence that varieties from this program will be at the forefront of international strawberry production for many years to come.”

GPG was selected by UC Davis because of the company’s unique knowledge of the strawberry industry as well as its expertise in plant intellectual property (IP) management. The terms of any individual licenses undertaken under the agreement will be defined once the commercial potential of individual varieties has been determined. The term of the agreement is for ten years.

“The university has significantly enhanced the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program so as to enable development of the next generation of commercially successful strawberry varieties,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of Technology Management and Corporate Relations in the UC Davis Office of Research. “Tapping GPG’s network in the berry industry and its experience with licensing high-value plant varieties will help deliver our new varieties to nurseries and fruit producers in important growing regions around the world,” said Pathak.

About UC’s Public Strawberry Breeding Program

UC has been breeding strawberries since the 1930s, and the breeding program has been located at UC Davis since the early 1950s. The goal of the program is to develop new, commercially useful varieties of strawberry plants that have higher quality berries, are less vulnerable to pests and diseases and can be grown more efficiently. During the prior six decades, the program developed more than thirty patented varieties. Approximately one billion patented strawberry plants are planted worldwide each year. Strawberries are a top-earning invention for the university and in fiscal year 2018, UC collected over $7 million in gross licensing revenue. A portion of the revenues received by UC from licensing its strawberry varieties fund the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program to support the research and innovation on which the industry relies.

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UC Davis Signs Subscription Agreement with Intel

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circuit board

Agreement provides Intel with the right to enter into non-exclusive licenses for certain patents managed by UC Davis.

UC Davis and Intel Corporation (“Intel”) have signed a subscription agreement covering certain UC Davis patents.  Intel has an option to non-exclusively license patents covered by the agreement during a specified period of time and at a predetermined fee.  UC Davis retains the right to license these patents to other parties – either non-exclusively in any field of use or exclusively outside the defined field of use.  This agreement continues for five years, with successive five-year extensions subject to mutual agreement by Intel and UC Davis.

“Initiating this subscription agreement further extends opportunities for Intel to benefit from UC Davis’ world-class innovation in engineering and computer science,” said Dr. Dushyant Pathak, Associate Vice Chancellor for Technology Management & Corporate Relations and Executive Director of Venture Catalyst within the UC Davis Office of Research, “Our new agreement continues an already successful relationship between Intel and UC Davis, and we look forward to this as a springboard for further collaboration,” he added.

About UC Davis InnovationAccess

InnovationAccess is one of three units within the Technology Management & Corporate Relations division of UC Davis.  It actively manages a portfolio of more than 1,300 inventions reflecting the diversity of the campus’ research and technology innovation, and seeks opportunities to commercialize these via licensing, with more than 700 active licenses.  In addition to negotiating licenses with established companies, InnovationAccess also supports licensing to enable startup companies emerging from university research. 14 startup companies were enabled with foundational IP from the university during FY 2016-17 and over 90 start-up companies formed since 2005.  The UC Davis InnovationAccess team comprises more than 20 intellectual property professionals with PhDs, JDs, MBAs and substantial private-sector experience.

About Intel

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) expands the boundaries of technology to make the most amazing experiences possible.  Information about Intel can be found at newsroom.intel.com and intel.com.

‘Daylight Harvesting’ Technology licensed to PLC Multipoint

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‘Daylight Harvesting’ Technology licensed to PLC Multipoint

The University of California, Davis, and PLC Multipoint, developer of photosensors and associated controls, have signed a licensing agreement to commercialize technology that reduces the cost and increases the reliability of daylight harvesting systems — an approach that reduces energy consumption by automatically adjusting lighting intensity in response to available daylight.

The patented technology offers improved light detection through customizable angular response, dual-loop detection and continuous self-calibration that automatically accounts for changes in the space. The system is composed of a microcontroller, two photosensors, an optional occupancy sensor and optional user controls. These components can be integrated into a single unit or combined through wired or wireless communications for a variety of products and systems.

The agreement covers three U.S. patents (7781713, 7683301, and 7592583) for technologies developed by the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) at UC Davis. The work leading to the inventions was supported by the Public Interest Energy Research program of the California Energy Commission. The licensing strategy for the technology allows for four co-exclusive licenses, two of which remain available.

“We are very excited to partner with PLC Multipoint for the development of commercial photosensing approaches that improve reliability and cost effectiveness in daylight harvesting applications,” said Dr. Konstantinos Papamichael, professor in the Department of Design and co-director of CLTC.

CLTC chose to bring this technology to market with PLC Multipoint, in part due to its leadership in photosensor design and manufacturing.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with UC Davis in bringing to market exciting new sensor technology,” said Joe Briscoe, product manager for PLC Multipoint. “We believe this will continue to improve the cost and efficiency of daylight harvesting.” The company plans to utilize the technology to support the development of a new generation of lighting control sensors.

“CLTC is at the forefront of innovation in sustainable and energy efficient lighting design and technology development,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of Technology Management and Corporate Relations and executive director of Venture Catalyst at UC Davis. “Its partnership with PLC Multipoint, embodied within the licensing arrangement enabled by the InnovationAccess team, represents one of the many ways in which CLTC enables our industry stakeholders for broad societal benefit.”

For more information about the technology and available licenses, please visit the InnovationAccess website: https://techtransfer.universityofcalifornia.edu/NCD/22662.html 

About the California Lighting Technology Center at UC Davis

The California Lighting Technology Center is a not-for-profit research, development and demonstration facility dedicated to accelerating the development and commercialization of next-generation, energy-efficient lighting and daylighting technologies. The center includes full-scale laboratories for research and development, as well as prototyping and product testing.

About UC Davis InnovationAccess

InnovationAccess is one of three units within the Technology Management and Corporate Relations division of the UC Davis Office of Research. It actively manages a patent portfolio of more than 1,380 inventions and 250 patents, reflecting the diversity of the campus’ research and technology innovation, and seeks opportunities to commercialize these via licensing, with more than 664 active licenses (including plant and utility licenses). InnovationAccess also supports licensing to enable startup companies emerging from university research.

About PLC Multipoint

For more than 25 years, PLC Multipoint has developed and produced lighting sensors and custom control solutions. In 2010, the company began manufacturing off-the-shelf lighting control systems, featuring sensor technology with daylight harvesting capabilities. All of its products are manufactured in a production facility located in Everett, Washington. The company serves its broad base of customers through four separate business divisions — PLC Buildings Lighting Control Systems, PLC Sensors Control Devices, PLC Transportation Control Systems and PLC Industrials Custom Systems.