For media: Story ideas, experts who can talk about technology transfer at CSU

The breakthroughs that happen in Colorado State University’s labs have an impact far beyond campus. 

Many of these innovations have led to successful ventures that have bolstered the economy and made the world a better place. 

From innovations in wheat genetics to cleaner cookstoves to a first-of-its-kind heart valve replacement device, here are story ideas about multiple researchers who have pioneered technology at CSU that is now finding success in the commercial marketplace.

The Gatorade moment: How CSU STRATA takes research from the lab to the marketplace

Richard Magid, vice president of technology transfer with CSU STRATA, the university’s tech transfer organization, can discuss the depth and breadth of innovation at Colorado State University.

Bread and butter: CSU wheat varieties are standout innovations

Every university has intellectual property that dependably returns revenue to inventors and the research enterprise. CSU has its own bread-and-butter innovations — emphasis on “bread.” Through the years, CSU faculty have developed unique varieties of wheat that now account for 85% of wheat grown in the state and generate nearly $2 million annually in royalties. That’s more annual revenue than any other intellectual property at CSU.

How a human heart device first started at the CSU vet hospital

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a first-of-its-kind heart valve replacement for use in human patients with a chronic condition known as mitral annular calcification. A well-known veterinary cardiologist at CSU first sketched out a version of the replacement valve in 2009, which led to the device for use in human medicine. The veterinarian continues to pioneer heart surgeries for dogs with cardiac ailments.

Battery life: Researcher describes the future of this critical technology 

Amy Prieto is one of CSU’s most productive innovators. She founded Prieto Batteries to commercialize a novel, three-dimensional lithium-ion battery, known as the world’s fastest-charging 3D battery. Prieto discusses the importance of lithium-ion batteries in a world that relies on electronics (and, increasingly, electric vehicles), the science behind the technology, why these batteries are so difficult to improve, and how she and other researchers are working to develop better batteries.

CSU company that makes hyper-realistic surgical models still going strong after 13 years

A horse surgeon with CSU’s Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program put a lot of banana peels and carpet squares out of work when he devised a line of sophisticated, highly realistic models to help teach veterinary students surgical and suturing skills.

Pairing CSU students, high schoolers and virtual reality to teach biomedical sciences

A CSU team sought a new way to teach human anatomy and developed a virtual reality program that immerses users in the structures and functions of the human body. The VR technology is featured in a campus lab; when it opened, the lab represented the world’s largest deployment of virtual reality in an educational setting.

Cleaner cooking: Company taps carbon market to deliver clean cookstoves that improve health and environment

In 2003, two CSU engineering students co-founded a startup with two of their professors. Their company, Envirofit International, has grown into one of CSU’s biggest tech-transfer successes, having sold more than 2.5 million cookstoves that benefit an estimated 12 million people living in poverty in developing nations.

How CSU researchers are using less herbicide to kill more weeds

Weed scientists at CSU invented a new herbicide that combines two common compounds. The result: Far less use of herbicide to knock down weeds that undermine the food supply while also diminishing harmful effects on the environment.

Looking for information about new innovations? Check out this list of recent CSU patent recipients.