DRI Tech Transfer Office turns research into royalties with boost from DOE

The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) that serves both DRI and the University of Nevada, Reno, is bridging the gap between research and reality by bringing together early-stage technology and marketplace opportunities while generating income for both institutions.

The TTO’s primary goals are to commercialize DRI- and university-developed technologies and to stimulate economic development and diversification in Nevada. An objective of the TTO is to negotiate licenses from which the university and DRI will receive ongoing royalties.

For example, DRI has licensed the Boulder, Colo. firm Droplet Measurement Technologies to commercialize a photo-acoustic instrument that was developed at DRI. The instrument can be used to measure particulate pollution and other sources of black-carbon emissions from power plants and diesel exhaust emissions in urban areas.

DRI has received more than $60,000 in royalties from the sale of the instrument to date.

Similarly, the university received a $60,000 royalty check this month from its partnership with Optim, a Nevada-based geophysical software and data services company with offices in Reno and Las Vegas.

Optim has a licensing agreement to develop software products from a seismology technology originally developed by researchers in the university’s Seismological Laboratory.

The TTO received a boost in November with a $738,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The grant will enhance the ability of the university and DRI to commercialize innovative technologies and stimulate economic growth.

“With this grant,” said TTO director Dick Bjur, “our office will have more resources, such as additional staff, to better evaluate the commercial potential of early-stage technologies at both the university and DRI, and to more effectively seek out business partners for commercializing many of our patented and patent-pending inventions.

For specific information about the UNR/DRI Technology Transfer office, contact Dick Bjur, TTO director, at (775) 784-4116 or bjur@unr.edu.