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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 Connects with Industry Leaders at World Agri-Tech Summit

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Helene Dillard, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Howard-Yana Shapiro, chief agricultural officer at Mars, Incorporated, kicked-off the Genomic and Translational Research Track with a discussion on how university-industry collaborations are accelerating innovation from pilot to full-scale commercial applications.

Helene Dillard, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Howard-Yana Shapiro, chief agricultural officer at Mars, Incorporated, kicked-off the Genomic and Translational Research Track with a discussion on how university-industry collaborations are accelerating innovation from pilot to full-scale commercial applications.

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/uc-davis-connects-with-industry-leaders-at-world-agri-tech-summit

UC Davis joined over 1,300 industry leaders at this year’s World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco with the goal of accelerating the advancement of agtech solutions to transform the food supply chain into a more sustainable, affordable and nutritious system for future generations.

The theme for this year’s event was “Turning Disruptive Technology into Business Strategy Though Partnership and Collaboration.” Attendees included business leaders, venture capitalists, technologists, startups and international organizations with a focus in the agtech arena.

As the summit’s official Research Partner, UC Davis showcased its unique capabilities and strengths to enhance existing relationships and forge new partnerships with some of the industry’s prominent leaders.

“The Agri-tech Summit has grown from a small gathering of agtech focused pioneers to one of the premier convening venues for ideas, technology development and innovation — bringing together a global mix of established players, innovation-driven startups, investors and technology developers in agtech,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor for research and executive director of Venture Catalyst at UC Davis. “Our strong presence at the summit was invaluable in providing visibility to the innovation being led by UC Davis and our research partners at other universities — laying the foundation for future product development by our industry colleagues.”

During the first day of the conference, UC Davis led the Genomics and Translational Research track with discussions that included a deep dive into the next generation of breeding technologies, how to accelerate the development of innovation from pilot to full-scale commercial applications, an overview of the Earth BioGenome Project and a panel discussion highlighting ways corporate partners can engage effectively with universities to drive their commercial pipelines.

On the day preceding the summit, attendees were invited to join a site tour of UC Davis with stops at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, campus livestock facilities showcasing novel approaches to reducing methane emissions in dairy cattle and the UC Davis-HM.CLAUSE Life Science Innovation Center (part of the Venture Catalyst startup incubator network). The site visit also included a panel discussion highlighting the regional agtech innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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Record Number of UC Davis Startups for 2017–18

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ara Ann Niendam, an associate professor in residence and the executive director of the UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs, and Laura Tully, an assistant professor of psychiatry, are the co-founders of Safari Health, a digital health technology company focused on evidence-based care for young people experiencing serious mental illness.

Tara Ann Niendam, an associate professor in residence and the executive director of the UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs, and Laura Tully, an assistant professor of psychiatry, are the co-founders of Safari Health, a digital health technology company focused on evidence-based care for young people experiencing serious mental illness. (Lisa Howard/UC Davis)

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/record-number-of-uc-davis-startups-for-2017-18

The University of California, Davis, enabled the foundation of 16 commercial companies during the fiscal year ending June 30, an all-time high for the university. This brings the total number of startups made possible by UC Davis technologies during the past 10 years to 137.

“Our commitment to supporting innovative faculty, students and staff — with the coordinated suite of resources we offer through Venture Catalyst — is accelerating societal benefit and regional economic impact through a robust pipeline of university spinoffs,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of research and executive director of UC Davis Venture Catalyst.

“Not only are we seeing an uptick in the number of exciting new technology ventures from the university, but we are also seeing the achievement of significant commercialization milestones by prior years’ startups,” Pathak said.

Many of the startups are targeting unmet needs in human health, with new tests, technology platforms and therapeutics for diagnosing, monitoring and treating a wide variety of conditions and diseases.

Four of the new companies have innovations focused on cancer. Others are developing therapeutics aimed at treating obesity, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and optic neuropathy.

Safari Health, co-founded by Laura Tully, an assistant professor of psychiatry, and Tara Ann Niendam, an associate professor in residence and the executive director of the UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs, is a digital health technology company focused on evidence-based care for young people experiencing serious mental illness. The company’s first product, Mobi, is an app-based technology for psychosis clinics to monitor how patients are faring in between caregiver visits.

“In a traditional mental health treatment setting, patients can often go weeks in between seeing a therapist or doctor,” said Tully. “A lot can happen in that time. Mobi closes that loop and allows the provider to monitor how things are going. If there is something predictive of a bad outcome, the provider is notified and can make a care decision.”

“We are using technology to get data in order to improve care,” said Niendam. “With this platform we can connect people to appropriate care and also improve the care that’s provided.”

Petr Janata, a professor in the Department of Psychology and a faculty member in the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, is developing a different type of software platform — one that lets people preserve and share memories and stories associated with specific music.

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UC Davis STAIR and DIAL Grant Recipients Developing Breakthrough Innovations

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Anne Britt, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Biology, is developing a novel method of rapid and efficient gene editing in tomato.

Anne Britt, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Biology, is developing a novel method of rapid and efficient gene editing in tomato. (José Luis Villegas/UC Davis photo)

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/2018-stair-dial

DAVIS, Calif. — Innovators at the University of California, Davis, are receiving financial support to advance their research and technologies toward commercialization.

Managed by Venture Catalyst, the Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) and the Data, Informatics & Application Launch (DIAL™) grant programs are designed to provide funding to support translational science and innovative research performed by UC Davis researchers. The goal of the programs is to demonstrate early proof-of-concept and commercial potential or feasibility for technologies being developed with the intent of commercial translation.

Six of the eight total 2017–18 award recipients are advancing innovative projects in health that address unmet needs. The additional two grant recipients are developing innovations in agriculture and poultry safety.

“The STAIR Grant Program highlights the cross-disciplinary investigative strengths of UC Davis and how our innovative researchers are harnessing life science research and the convergence of health, agriculture and engineering technologies to make a translational impact in the areas of human health, nutrition and food safety,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of research and executive director of Venture Catalyst at UC Davis.

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