STATE COLLEGE, PA – The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org), an initiative that identifies and helps commercialize shale gas related technologies that enhance responsible stewardship of the environment while creating high paying jobs has received a grant from the Benedum Foundation that will allow the 2013-14 Shale Gas Innovation Contest to expand to include West Virginia.

The Shale Gas Innovation Contest, which just announced this year’s winners on May 7, 2013, has become a popular annual event. Seventy-one applicants participated from all across the state of Pennsylvania, vying for a total of $75,000 in prize money. The next contest will now cover both Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the SGICC has lined up three key partners in West Virginia to assist with marketing the event and helping to identify potential applicants across the state: TechConnectWV; INNOVA Commercialization Group; and the West Virginia University Office of Research & Economic Development.

Bill Hall, Director of SGICC commented, “We received very high-quality applications for the last two contests, and many of the concepts were really impressive. Topics covered the entire gamut of the shale gas play from exploration and extraction technologies, environmental and safety products and service concepts, water and wastewater focused technologies, data management concepts, and even multiple downstream gas and NGL utilization technologies. We are very excited to expand the next competition to include entrepreneurs and small businesses located in West Virginia that have shale gas related ideas, and I want to thank the Benedum Foundation for providing us the support to make this happen.”

Anne Barth, Executive Director of TechConnectWV noted, “We are really excited to partner with the Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center to make this contest a regional enterprise. There are so many opportunities for entrepreneurs to get engaged in the shale gas play.”

Applications for the 2013-2014 Contest will be made available in the November timeframe. Bill Hall noted, “We wanted to get the word out now to the stakeholders in West Virginia so all of the economic development groups across the state can start encouraging entrepreneurs and small companies with ideas to contact us now. This is a year round effort that we undertake, and our goal is to help advance all ideas that have merit. It’s never too soon to reach out to us.”

Guy Peduto, Director of the INNOVA Commercialization Group, an initiative of the WV High Technology Consortium Foundation, also voiced his support for the initiative. “I attended the recent Innovation Contest event and was impressed by the technologies that were on display. I know we have entrepreneurs in West Virginian exploring ideas that can impact the shale gas play, and INNOVA is interested in helping to identify the opportunities and advance the most promising ones.”

Lindsay Emery, Business Development Manager at West Virginia University noted, “There are researchers at the University that have been exploring many aspects of the shale gas process. This contest may offer some of them an opportunity to have their ideas vetted.”

Sponsors are already lining up to support the 2013-2014 Contest including: Ben Franklin Technology Partners (http://www.benfranklin.org), Acorn Energy (http://acornenergy.com), CONSOL Energy (www.consolenergy.com), First National Bank (www.fnb-online.com), Little Pine Resources (http://littlepineresources.com), the Marcellus Shale Coalition (http://marcelluscoalition.org), and Praxair (www.praxair.com). Additional sponsors are expected to come on board shortly, and SGICC welcomes interest from other companies or organizations interested in participating.

About the SGICC

The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center is funded in part by the Department of Community & Economic Development and the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority. The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org) supports and commercializes early-stage technologies that enhance responsible stewardship of the environment while properly utilizing this energy asset.

For further information:
Bill Hall/ Director / SGICC
814-933-8203/ billhall@psu.edu

West Virginia University’s Office of Research & Economic Development announces the Innovation Awards, which recognize WVU faculty, administrators or staff members for their contribution to innovation and/or the commercialization of ideas that benefit the public’s well-being.

For these awards, innovation includes all forms of discovery, creation and production of inventive and progressive ideas, methods, and products that promote society’s growth.

The awards are:

• Early Career Innovator Award honors a WVU faculty member who has been employed with the University for six years or less and whose work exemplifies the spirit of innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship.
• Established Innovator Award recognizes a WVU faculty member who has been employed here for more than six years and whose recent work has actively contributed to innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship.
• Presidential Innovation Service Award honors an administrator, faculty or staff member who has shared expertise and/or mentored faculty members in their pursuit of innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship.

For the application instructions and other award guidelines, click on the following link: http://www.innovation.research.wvu.edu/events/wvu-innovation-awards-guidelines. All applications are due by the close of business July 1.

The winners will each receive $5,000 to support their continuing innovative work. The winners will be recognized at the WVU Innovation Awards Ceremony from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Waterfront Place Hotel.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/at-shale-innovation-contest-3-make-25000-pitches-686741/

http://universityeda.org/blog/qa-with-a-2012-awards-of-excellence-winner-west-virginia-university/

http://www.wboy.com/story/22044562/new-wvu-project-to-help-students-get-patents

For decades, researchers from across the globe have sought to discover ways in which to enable clear communication with underground miners in case of an emergency. Such a device is one of many technologies and solutions designed to help address societal needs that will be on display at West Virginia University’s Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering’s Senior Design Expo. The expo will be held on Monday, April 29, from noon-2 p.m., on the ground floor of the Engineering Sciences Building in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources on WVU’s Evansdale campus.

More than 50 students majoring in electrical engineering, computer science, computer engineering and biometrics formed groups and began working last semester on various capstone projects. After conducting research and writing design proposals, the teams got hands-on experience building their projects and will now introduce them to the public.

“The senior design program allows students to find creative solutions to technical challenges,” said Ramana Reddy, program coordinator. “By working in a group setting on a real-world problem, students become better communicators, gain time management skills and learn to deal with interpersonal issues, all of which they will encounter in their professional careers.”

Other projects scheduled to be on display include a robot that cleans stairs and another that can dig soil on the moon, along with a system to enable WVU’s Department of Transportation and Parking to enforce regulations without human intervention.

This event is free and open to the public. Students will be on hand to answer questions about their respective projects.

http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2013/04/22/wvu-senior-engineering-students-to-showcase-design-projects

As part of its 50(th) Anniversary Celebration, the University City Science Center is accepting nominations for its inaugural Innovators Walk of Fame. The Innovators Walk of Fame will commemorate and celebrate the Greater Philadelphia region’s dynamic history of innovation and the trailblazers who continue to invent the future.

To read the entire article, please click below:

Researchers from a variety of disciplines integral to the West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design will come together April 25 for a forum to discuss innovation and entrepreneurship.

“These researchers in the biomaterials, animal science and design manufacturing disciplines will speak about their experience collaborating with industry, balancing university research responsibilities and their entrepreneurial pursuits, and discussing obstacles and recommendations for university faculty interested in pursuing innovation and commercialization efforts,” said Lindsay Emery, business development manager with WVU’s Office of Research and Economic Development.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 4:30 – 6 p.m. in 2001 Agricultural Sciences Building on WVU’s Evansdale Campus and will feature three speakers.

Steve Kelley, professor and department head of forest biomaterials at North Carolina State University, conducts research in sustainable production of energy and materials from biomass and the application of novel analytics tools to biomass.

Prior to joining North Carolina State University, Kelley spent 13 years at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory where he worked on biomass conversion technologies, technical leadership & innovation in the areas of biomass characterization, production of value-added bio-based products and thermal conversion processes.

Anthony Bimbo, technical consultant with International Fisheries Technology, has worked in the global fishing industry for over 50 years. His first 33 years were spent with the largest fishmeal and oil producer in the U.S. For the last 17 years he has served as an international consultant for the industry.

During his career, Bimbo has held a number of important roles including chairman of the Scientific Committee for International Fishmeal and Fishoil Organization, co-chairman of the U.S. Menhaden Task Force that submitted the Generally Recognized as Safe menhaden oil petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and member of nine Expert Generally Recognized as Safe panels for various marine oil products.

Craig Nelson, senior footwear designer for Sketchers USA, has over 15 years of experience working in the footwear product business and has extensive brand building expertise and design management experience. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and his master’s degree in industrial design from North Carolina State University.

The event is co-hosted by the Davis College and Linking Innovation, Industry and Commercialization, a program dedicated to establishing new and strengthening current relationships between industry representatives, faculty researchers and students.

Academic institutions across the country are rethinking their roles in society, how scholarly impact is created and disseminated, and funding sources that support innovation and cross-cutting collaborations.

To read the full story, click on the link below:

http://www.uanews.org/story/ua-adds-tech-transfer-to-promotion-tenure-criteria

Dr. Fred King, VP for Research at WVU’s Office of Research & Economic Development, has been elected to the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Board of Directors. Oak Ridge Associated Universities is a 109-member university consortium, linked with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN. The group is composed of university faculty and students who collaborate on major scientific initiatives that enhance the scientific research and education enterprise of the United States.

We would like to congratulate Dr. King on this prestigious honor.

To read the full article, click here http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2013/03/26/king-wvu-vp-for-research-named-to-board-of-national-research-group.