State's top innovators
Source: Buffalo News
State's top innovators tout tech hopes on Capitol Hill
'Synergy' sought through networking
WASHINGTON — Upstate New York is not Silicon Valley, but many people would like it to be. Inventors and researchers from across the state, therefore, crammed into a Capitol Hill meeting room Wednesday to show their wares and hope for a little of the magic that techy types call "synergy."
"This is networking for us," said Dr. Bradley P. Furhman, professor of pediatrics and anesthesiology at the University at Buffalo and chief of critical care at Women & Children's Hospital. "This is a chance to meet people who may have an idea of how to facilitate our project, how to use the power of our university, the power of the government to help bring it to market."
With his colleague Mark S. Dowhy, Furhman has invented a portable ventilator that can be used by more than one patient at once.
It would be useful during pandemics, Furhman noted — although it won't be on the market in time for the the swine flu outbreak.
Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a Democrat, sponsored Wednesday's event to bring together inventors such as Furhman and congressional aides to spark activity in the state's high-tech sector.
"I'm hoping it creates jobs," Gillibrand said. "When you highlight companies like this, and you bring staffs from all over the Congress, they can see what new innovations are being made, what new products are being created. And then when it's time to apply for appropriations, to apply for grants, they'll be more receptive to these kinds of applications."
Indeed, money was on the minds of many of the innovators at the event.
Furhman noted that his enterprise, Medical Conservation Devices of Buffalo, had received a $900,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health for product development. But once it gets approval from the Food and Drug Administration, he will have to find money to bring it to market.
"We have a venture capital problem," he conceded. "We would really like to develop this as a Western New York company," but finding the funding to get the project off the ground has been difficult, he added.
Others saw the event more as a chance to mix, mingle and see what happens.
"Just interacting with all the other folks from New York State who have displays here has been very useful, to find out the exciting things going on and how maybe we can network or work with them," said Esther Sans Takeuchi, a UB engineering professor who recently won a National Medal of Technology and Innovation for her invention of the batteries used in many medical devices.
Thomas M. Pleban, executive vice president of Calspan, and Donald J. Goralski, senior program officer at UB's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, pushed a Calspan-UB joint venture. The entities are building two test-bridges side-by-side on Calspan property in Ashford, just to see how they stand up over time to extreme conditions.
"The idea is to test and use the Buffalo climate to our advantage," Goralski said.
The UB Center, now dubbed MCEER, is also exploring how its earthquake research can be used in dealing with other types of disasters, he added.
As Goralski spoke, dozens of congressional staffers milled about the Kennedy Caucus Room in the Senate Russell Building, checking out displays from Cornell University, Harris Corp., the Brookhaven National Laboratory and scores of other centers of innovation.
TechNet, a bipartisan network of high-tech and finance executives from across the state, co-sponsored the event. And Rep. Chris Lee, R-Clarence, noted that boosting the state's high-tech companies was a bipartisan effort in Washington.
"[Research and Development] and investment in technology are what's going to make the difference in the United States," Lee said. "That's where government should be focusing. It's a cliche, but it's true."
posted by Brian Bell @ 9:31 AM
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