The plant is owned and operated by Aseptia, a startup company launched by two NC State food scientists and a local entrepreneur. It packages fresh foods such as soups, purees and juices in airtight cartons that can be safely stored on the shelf for a year or longer without the use of refrigeration, preservatives or additives. A patented process ensures that the foods retain their original flavor, aroma and texture.

The innovation is pure gold, driving Aseptia to a coveted spot on the last year’s Inc. 5000, a prestigious list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. The company has grown by an astounding 12,427 percent in the past few years, increasing revenue from just over $100,000 in 2010 to more than $13.8 million today.

In the 21st century, prosperity isn’t something you find in a creek; it’s something you create through these kinds of strategic partnerships between academia, government and industry. That’s why the federal government and industry leaders have tapped NC State to drive some of the nation’s most important public-private partnerships and address the globe’s grand challenges, including efforts to build a new advanced manufacturing sector, develop novel techniques for data analysis and halt the spread of nuclear weapons around the world.

Innovators on NC State’s Centennial Campus, one of the most successful university research campuses in the United States, focus on moving scientific discoveries out of the lab and into the marketplace, creating jobs and improving the economy. Thanks to groundbreaking programs such as the Technology Incubator, licensing and patent assistance, and industry-friendly research agreements, powerful ideas quickly become powerful economic engines across the state.

That’s a resource more precious than gold.

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]]> https://web.ncsu.edu/annual-report/2014-2015/feature/2015/07/27/economic-engine/feed/ 0 https://web.ncsu.edu/annual-report/2014-2015/feature/2015/07/22/incubating-innovation/ https://web.ncsu.edu/annual-report/2014-2015/feature/2015/07/22/incubating-innovation/#respond Wed, 22 Jul 2015 13:52:54 +0000 http://web.ncsu.edu/annual-report/2014-2015/?p=134 Ingenuity alone doesn’t turn a promising idea into a marketable product. That’s why Chancellor Randy Woodson launched the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund.

The post Incubating Innovation appeared first on 2015 Chancellor's Annual Report.

]]> Ingenuity alone doesn’t turn a promising idea into a marketable product. That’s why NC State launched the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF) in 2010.

Between the research lab and the real world, there’s a long, uneven path. Starter funding is key to navigating that path, and the CIF fills funding gaps where financial support for technology development can have a decisive impact.

Since the fund began, 23 projects have earned support from the CIF. The university’s $1.4 million commitment to those projects has yielded a major return on investment: $4.4 million in follow-on funding, $926,000 in licensing revenue and seven startup companies.

The 2014-2015 CIF projects include an effort to cost-effectively extract biofuels from saltwater algae; a project to create a better device for identifying dangerous plaque in arteries; and a smarter, more efficient fuel injector for cars.

The fund’s success stems from NC State’s approach to selecting CIF recipients. Each year, roughly 75 faculty members file CIF proposals. After initial screening, finalists pitch their technology development projects to a selection committee comprising representatives of university innovation partners: Eastman Chemical, Rex Healthcare, the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, First Flight Venture Center, HQ Raleigh, the Kenan Institute, NC Idea Fund Partners, Hatteras Venture Partners, the Center for Entrepreneurial Development and the North Carolina Small Business Technology Development Center.

Chancellor Randy Woodson makes the final selections, with input from the university’s research leadership.

Proof-of-concept funds like the CIF are critical to supporting innovators, says Kelly B. Sexton, director of NC State’s Office of Technology Transfer. The presence of Research Triangle partners in the review process differentiates NC State’s fund from others.

“We’re working really hard to get the voice of the marketplace into the lab and make sure that the commitments we’re making through the CIF are based on validated market needs,” she says.

Meet some of the CIF’s biggest successes:

CellSentry has developed a system of embedded software/firmware components that protects computer clouds and mobile systems. The package, based on research by NC State computer scientists Peng Ning and Ahmed Azab, is part of Samsung’s Knox security and data management system.

Scientific Organizational Solutions is applying the ideas of psychology to the hiring process. Because it takes longer to come up with a lie than to tell the truth, psychology professor Adam Meade has developed software that gauges how long candidates take to answer questions on computer-based employment tests.

The SleepiBand, a headband developed by NC State engineer Alper Bozkurt, deploys a smartphone to encourage sounder sleep. The band links to a mobile app that wakes users during shallow sleep cycles. Funded by the CIF in 2013, the SleepiBand has been in clinical trials under a partnership with Duke University and has drawn funding from the National Institutes of Health.

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