Message from Yvonne Harris, Ph.D., Associate Vice President
We’ve just nearly reached the finish line on this Spring semester, thus also bringing The LENS to a close until the fall semester at the end of August. Looking back at the incredible work we’ve done this year- staff, faculty, and students alike- we eagerly await the chill of autumn to spark fresh, new ideas in the world of research and innovation. Beginning with a reminder about the Proposal Writing Workshops. May 19th is the last day to register, so don’t wait too long to grab a spot as they are very limited and filling up fast.
Next, we have some news regarding The 2023 Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition Results. Of the 15 teams from 11 CSU campuses, Sacramento State unfortunately did not win any prizes- but the students performed wonderfully! On another note, Sacramento State Files its First Patent Application in 10 Years! You can read more about both stories further down this newsletter.
Furthermore, the Discussion, Discovery, and Dissemination (D3) Event went smoothly this year. The event was held on April 26th at the Harper Alumni Center, where food and drinks were served to create a memorable evening. Photos of the event are attached below.
Lastly, the Student Research Center Newsletter was officially launched on Thursday, May 11th. These newsletters will highlight the student events that occur on campus, as well as provide more in-depth articles about campus-wide research. To read more, scroll down to the bottom of this letter.
Have a Great Summer!
| |
Proposal Writing Workshops
Last Chance – Register by May 19!
Come to one workshop or many...
How to Write Competitive Proposals: Eight-Hour Interactive Sessions on Proposal Writing: (Two half-day sessions, 8 a.m. – noon)
- Writing Program Proposals - June 8-9
- Writing Research Proposals - June 15-16
Seeking Funding from Specific Funding Agencies: (9 a.m. – noon)
- U.S. Department of Education and Other Education Agencies – June 5
- National Endowment for the Humanities – June 6
- National Science Foundation – June 12
- National Institutes of Health – June 13
For workshop descriptions, Zoom registration, and more information, click here. The last day to register is May 19, 2023. Please register early as space is limited in some sessions.
Questions? Contact Jill Shannon in the Offices of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development at oried-office@csus.edu.
| |
The 2023 Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition Results
On Friday, May 5th, 36 CSU student startups from 18 CSU campuses gathered at the Diaz Compean Student Union at the beautiful and historic San Jose State University – the founding campus of the 23-campus CSU system – in the heart of Silicon Valley to compete in the first CSU system-wide student startup pitch competition – the 2023 Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition. The San Jose State University Office of Innovation hosted the event. The CSU Office of the Chancellor and each of the 18 campuses provided funds to cover all of the other costs of the competition. The Sacramento State Office of the Provost provided $7,500 to cover Sacramento State’s share of the costs. Sunstone Management, the title sponsor for the event, provided the $200,000 total prize money for 5 separate competition tracks:
- 2 Product Tracks
- 2 Service Tracks
- 1 Social Enterprise Track
Seven teams from different CSU campuses competed in each of the Product and Service tracks and 8 teams from different CSU campuses competed in the Social Entrepreneurship Track for:
- $25,000 for 1st place
- $10,000 for 2nd place
- $5,000 for 3rd place.
Total Control Aero, founded by James Gouveia and whereEV, founded by Enrique Alcacer and Joshua Maddox represented Sacramento State at the competition. Total Control Aero competed in the 2nd Product Track, whereEV competed in the 2nd Service Track. Cameron Law, the Executive Director of the Carlsen Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Rafael Gacel-Sinclair, the Technology Transfer Officer leading the Office of Innovation & Technology Transfer, were there to cheer for both teams.
| |
From left to right: Rafael Gacel-Sinclair, James Gouveia, Enrique Alcacer, Joshus Maddox, and Cameron Law are pictured in front of yellow and blue balloon decorations at the CSU Sunstone Competition in San Jose, California on May 5th, 2023
| |
Each team in each track delivered an 8-minute pitch presentation, followed by 5 minutes of questions and answers from a panel of four or five volunteer judges from the Silicon Valley business community. The judges evaluated each pitch based on the desirability, feasibility and viability of the startup.
- 1st Product Track – CSU San Bernardino, Sonoma State, and CSU Northridge
- 2nd Product Track – CSU San Bernardino, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and CSU Northridge
- 1st Service Track – Fresno State, San Jose State, and Cal Poly Humboldt
- 2nd Service Track - Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, San Diego State, and San Jose State
- Social Enterprise Track – CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU San Marcos, and CSU Fullerton.
The 2024 Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition will take place at CSU Dominguez Hills. Sunstone Management has committed to providing a total of $1,000,000 for the first 5 annual pitch competitions from 2023 to 2027. With the generous financial support of the Sacramento State Office of the Provost and the mentorship of the Carlsen Center, Sacramento State will be able to send two teams to future competitions.
| |
Sacramento State Files its First Patent Application in 10 YearsRecently, chemistry professor Dr. Katherine McReynolds and her graduate student, graduate teaching assistant, and student assistant for research, Anthony Perez, disclosed an invention to the ORIED Office of Innovation & Technology Transfer (OITT) entitled Synthesis of Robust Oligosaccharides for Applications in Biotechnology and Biomedical Research. This is a method that makes it very easy to link together two sugars that are either the same or different using a minimum of steps, no protecting group chemistry, efficient and green reaction conditions, and results in good-to-excellent product yields. This method can be used in biotechnology and biomedical applications such as in developing new drugs and vaccines.
| |
From left to right: Dr. Katherine McReynolds and Anthony Perez
| |
In order for Sacramento State to preserve the ability to patent this invention in the U.S. and in foreign countries, our Technology Transfer Officer, Rafael Gacel-Sinclair of OITT, and Attorney Sasha Danna of the Office of General Counsel at the CSU Office of the Chancellor, retained the Sacramento intellectual property law firm O’Banion & Ritchey, LLC to file a provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Officer (USPTO) on May 5th- one day before an enabling poster presentation was going to be made, and two months before an enabling manuscript was going to be published.
In most of the world, you will lose your ability to get a patent on an invention if you make an enabling publication, presentation, or other public enabling disclosure before filing a patent application. Only the U.S., Australia, Canada, and Japan allow you to file a patent within 12 months of making an enabling public disclosure. The UK and the EU have a stricter 6-month grace period. Moreover, in 2013, the U.S. and the USPTO switched from a first-to-invent system to a first-inventor-to-file system, which means that someone having access to the enabling information about this invention could have filed a patent application on the invention before Sacramento State did, and Sacramento State would have lost the ability to get a patent on this invention.
The inventors assigned the invention to Sacramento State in exchange for Sacramento State paying the legal fees and USPTO fees for prosecuting the patent application, trying to marker and commercialize the invention, and sharing 35% of the net revenues received from commercializing this invention. Prosecuting a patent application on an invention is a huge financial risk. It can cost $10,000 to $30,000 or more in legal- and USPTO- fees to file a patent application and prosecute that application until the USPTO grants a patent on the invention. Prosecuting a foreign patent application can cost over $100,000. Moreover, the vast majority of patented inventions made and owned by U.S. universities never bring in any licensing or royalty revenues, because only about 5% of patented inventions are ever commercialized. OITT is seeking a company to license and commercialize this invention, and has posted a marketing summary describing this invention on the OITT web site.
| |
Discussion, Discovery, and Dissemination (D3) Event
The Engineering and Computer Sciences Department partnered with the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Department to co-host the Discussion, Discovery, and Dissemination Event, also known as "D3", at the Harper Alumni Center on Wednesday, April 26th.
D3 is an event where ECS & NSM faculty, industry representatives, alumni, and other campus partners meet each other to learn about and discuss Sac State science & engineering research over food and drinks. The goal is to promote new ideas and discover cross-discipline collaboration opportunities.
| |
Student Research Center Newsletter
The Student Research Center has recently started putting out their own monthly newsletters. These newsletters will highlight the student events that occur on campus, as well as provide more in-depth articles about campus-wide research. Follow the link to the SRC May Newsletter to read about the CSU Wide Student Research Symposium, The StingerStudio Makerspace, and upcoming activities.
| |
|
| For more information or inquiries please contact the Offices of Research, Innovation and Economic Development below.
| |
California State University, Sacramento
Offices of Research, Innovation and Economic Development
Library 2520, MS 6093
6000 J StreetSacramento, CA 95819-6065Phone: (916) 278-6402
| |
|
|
