Research News

June 6, 2008

Students' Plan to Tackle Epileptic Seizures

Seizures, the often frightening and historically misunderstood outward manifestations of epilepsy, have long challenged physicians and struck fear in patients. Although there are drugs on the market to control seizures, many patients receive little benefit. But there may now be a reason to hope for some of these patients. Though the technology is still in its infancy, a new approach to controlling seizures championed by five Duke University graduate students four from the Pratt School ...

March 17, 2008

Duke optical spinoff company wins Frost & Sullivan North America Award for Excellence in Research

Bioptigen, a spinoff company co-founded by Duke biomedical engineer Joseph Izatt, has won the Frost & Sullivan 2007 North American Optical Coherence Tomography Excellence in Research Award. Bioptigen was singled out for its work in spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) for ophthalmology. "This recognition is validation of our vision for the current and future potential of SD-OCT," said Izatt, professor of biomedical engineering and opthamology, and Chief Technology Officer at Bioptigen. "Our emphasis looking forward is ...

June 11, 2007

Startup Advanced Liquid Logic Receives Frost & Sullivan's Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award

Advanced Liquid Logic, which is developing miniscule fluidic technology that can turn silicon chips into labs, is consulting firm Frost & Sullivan's choice for its 2007 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year award. The rising startup company, founded by former Duke engineering graduate students Michael Pollack and Vamsee Pamula, is a spin-out from Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. The microfluidic technology originated in the laboratoy of the Pratt School's Richard Fair, a professor of electrical and ...

May 17, 2007

Clinical Activity for Celsion's Thermodox� Reported

Note: Article adapted from a news release issued by Celsion. Columbia, MD Early results from a Phase I clinical study of ThermoDox for treating patients with recurrent breast cancer on the chest wall revealed that after only two cycles of a low-dose, six-cycle regimen, six patients showed early signs of clinically meaningful activity, according to a release issued by Celsion Corporation. One patient had a complete response in the treated area, two patients had ...

February 15, 2007

MBright

Dean Kristina M. Johnson and Duke electrical and computer engineering doctoral graduate Sangrok Lee founded MBright, a next-generation digital display technology company after winning $50,000 in startup funding from the Duke Startup Challenge in 2004. MBright utilizes liquid crystal on silicon microdisplays including VLSI design.

February 15, 2007

NDI Medical

Formed in 2002, NDI Medical develops, manufactures, commercializes and markets neurostimulation products. Their experienced team of business executives, engineers and regulatory professionals have built a successful, growing, implantable neurostimulation medical device company located in Cleveland, one of the world's leading centers for neurostimulation research. Founder Warren Grill is an associate professor in Duke's Biomedical Engineering Department. URL: www.ndimedical.com/index.htm

February 15, 2007

Memscept

Photonics and ultrasound engineering researchers from Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and George Washington University created a spinoff company in 2003 to market a novel optical scanner miniaturized enough to be inserted into the body, where its light beams could someday detect abnormalities hidden in the walls of the colon, bladder or esophagus. The experimental device is called an "electrostatic micromachine scanning mirror for optical coherence tomography." Memscept founders include Jason Zara, an assistant professor ...

February 15, 2007

Illuminus

Illuminus is a Duke spinoff company developing technology to measure the removal of breast tumors during breast conserving surgery. An estimated 125,000 women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer receive breast conserving surgery each year. The project manager, Dr. Nimmi Ramanujam, an internationally recognized researcher in biomedical engineering, will provide the technical direction for the venture. She is a tenured faculty member at Duke University. She was the winner of the MIT Technology Review TR100 ...

February 9, 2007

Advanced Liquid Logic

Advanced Liquid Logic develops products that leverage the Company's unique droplet-based liquid handling technology for high quality, reliable, rapid, and cost effective results in a diverse range of diagnostic and other applications. Digital microfluidics is a lab-on-a-chip approach based on direct, programmable micromanipulation of small volume droplets using electrical fields. Digital microfluidics enables complex, multi-step liquid handling protocols to be flexibly, scalably, and cost effectively implemented. Invented at Duke University. URL: http://www.liquid-logic.com/index.html

February 9, 2007

Signal Innovations Group, Inc.

Signal Innovations Group, Inc. (SIG) is a Research Triangle Park, NC based company that is pioneering new data modeling methods and cutting-edge algorithm design for pattern recognition and decision systems. These technologies have enabled our customers to understand and exploit sensor data in new ways that break old performance barriers. SIG has developed analytic tools to perform customized decision-systems design and enhanced data understanding. SIG is a Duke University spinoff company, founded by electrical and ...

February 9, 2007

Humacyte

Humacyte is a vascular tissue engineering company pioneering the production of replacement blood vessels on demand with a patient's own cells. Humacyte's patented technology will focus specifically on producing small diameter grafts for patients suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD) or peripheral artery disease (PAD). Founder and former Duke bioengineering professor Laura Niklason is conducting preclinical tests now and hopes to enter clinical trials within the next few years. Humacyte is actively working to bridge ...

February 9, 2007

Bioptigen

Bioptigen has pioneered a new class of in vivo optical imaging systems for biomedical applications. These systems enable real-time non-invasive imaging of internal tissue microstructure, advancing critical applications in drug development, genetics research, tissue engineering, and medical vision. Bioptigen is a spin-out of the Duke University Biomedical Engineering Department. Bioptigen was incorporated in North Carolina in August, 2004, to commercialize technologies originating in the laboratories of Professor Joseph Izatt. Bioptigen technology is based ...

February 9, 2007

Centice

Centice designs and manufactures molecular spectroscopy optical sensors that are used by our partners in general purpose and application-specific products. Centice sensors are based on patent-pending computational sensor technology exclusively licensed from Duke University, where the technology was first developed. Computational sensors combine multiplexing optical designs with electronics and proprietary mathematical algorithms, to achieve both extreme sensitivity and uncompromised resolution a breakthrough that had previously been unattainable. URL: http://www.centice.com

February 9, 2007

Ford Encourages Motorsports Innovation

Ford Motor Co. provided financial support to the Duke University Motorsports club. This is a team of undergraduate students that design, fabricate and race an open-wheeled Formula SAE Series car in the Formula SAE competition in Detroit, Mich., as well as in several autocrosses across the state of North Carolina. The team also participates in community outreach programs. Ford support pays for supplies, insurance and travel to the national competition.

February 9, 2007

SAIC Fostering Next-Gen Autonomous Robots

SAIC Inc. is providing funding, equipment and supplies to support members of Duke's Robotics Club. Duke is partnering with Georgia Tech's Sting Racing team to participate in the DARPA Urban Challenge. The Urban Challenge tests the ability of competing autonomous robots to drive 60 miles in an urban setting in six hours or less. The vehicles must obey the rules of the road and safely interact with other robot vehicles and other cars driven by ...

February 9, 2007

Newport Gives Optics Students a Peek Inside the Black Box

Jason Eichenholz, director of strategic marketing at Newport Corp., conducted an extensive technology demo for Duke engineering students. He showcased a wide range of Newport products to Duke's Optical Society of America Student Chapter and discussed the company's cuttingedge technology and how it is being used by various researchers throughout the country. Newport is an advanced technology product company specializing in areas such as lasers and light sources; opto-mechanical components and mounts, filters and gratings, ...

February 9, 2007

Cisco Systems Designer Champions First-Year Design Experience

Adjunct professor Greg Twiss, director of product design at Cisco Systems, worked with electrical and computer engineering professor of the practice Gary Ybarra to develop a first year course titled EGR 20 Engineering Innovation. This course encompasses a first year design studio in which students gain experience in conceptualizing a product, evaluating its feasibility, visually communicating its features to others, and prototyping and improving on the design.

February 9, 2007

Textron Supports Underrepresented Minorities

Textron Inc. is sponsoring three Master of Engineering Management (MEM) fellowships each year from 2005 through 2009. The goal of the program is to encourage women and minorities to pursue careers in engineering management. Fellows conduct a summer internship at one of several Textron facilities, receive a stipend for summer travel and living allowances, and a full tuition fellowship for eight classes to fulfill the MEM Program degree requirements.

February 9, 2007

Hewlett-Packard Award Expands Technology for Teaching

The tablet computers already successfully integrated into electrical and computer engineering are now in more Pratt classrooms. Duke won a second Technology for Teaching Leadership grant from Hewlett-Packard. This project, led by Assistant Professor of the Practice Lisa Huettel, provided 40 tablet computers and supporting equipment for use in courses across Pratt. The grant, valued at more than $120,000, was one of 10 awarded to two- and four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. and ...

February 9, 2007

Internship Listings

Kirsten to add lists of companies here.

December 15, 2006

President and CEO of Hi-G-Tek, A Pratt Alumnus, Assembled Executive Team

Source: PRNewswire Hi-G-Tek, a leading developer and provider of radio frequency ID (RFID) solutions for high-value assets and sensitive materials, has assembled an executive team with decades of combined management experience and an impressive list of advanced technology expertise to its credit. Larry A. Blue who was appointed the new President and Chief Executive Officer of Hi-G-Tek, has assembled a U.S. executive team that combines seasoned veterans, with entrepreneurial company builders who have taken former start-ups and ...

December 1, 2006

Industry Internship Survey Results

More than 330 Duke engineering students took part in a survey on summer internships earlier this fall. According to the survey results, more than 61% of students who completed an internship reported their experience as 'excellent' or 'good' and 82% received compensation for their time. At right are charts that provide detailed information on student majors, gender and types of internships. Internships give students a chance to network with role models and potential employers and see ...

November 27, 2006

Cancer Spinoff Company Bags Early Attention in Duke Start-Up Challenge

A company founded in June 2006 by Assistant Biomedical Engineering (BME) Professor Adam Wax and (BME) Research Scientist William Brown has won the "Most Intriguing Idea" award in the healthcare category of the Phase 1 competition of the Duke Start-Up Challenge. The company is called Oncoscope and its goal is to build an accurate, quick and cost effective optical biopsy system for detecting pre-cancerous cells in epitheal tissues. The initial target is the esophagus. The Oncoscope ...

November 7, 2006

Dean Kristina Johnson Appointed to Board of Directors of Nortel

PRNewswire TORONTO -- Kristina M. Johnson, dean of Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Nortel, effective immediately. "I am pleased to announce Dean Johnson's appointment," said Harry Pearce, chairman of Nortel's Board of Directors. "Her insight and experience will greatly benefit Nortel and contribute to our focus on innovation and R&D effectiveness." Johnson has also been appointed to the Nortel Networks Limited Board of Directors. Johnson joined Duke in 1999 ...

October 30, 2006

Advanced Liquid Logic awarded $160k loan from North Carolina Biotechnology Center

CarolinaNewswire.com Advanced Liquid Logic awarded $160k loan from North Carolina Biotechnology Center 10-29-2006 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- North Carolina's smallest, most high-tech biotechnology "plumbing company" is the first recipient of an innovative new loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Advanced Liquid Logic, a microfluidics "lab-on-a-chip" spinout from Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, is the first company in the state to get a Biotechnology Center Strategic Growth Loan (SGL). The $160,000 boost is the latest of ...

October 24, 2006

Duke Announces Construction of "The Home Depot Smart Home," A Live-in Laboratory Where Students Test Residential Technology

DURHAM, N.C. -- Imagine a college dormitory that touts more audiovisual equipment than most theaters, runs on electricity generated by solar panels and is protected with biometric security. This unique living experience will become a reality for 10 students of Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.The university and The Home Depot are partnering to create "The Home Depot Smart Home," a residential laboratory where students will research and develop innovative solutions for the home in ...

August 11, 2006

Pratt spinoff company, Bioptigen, Lands $1.3 million in First-Round Funding

DURHAM, N.C. Business is coming more into focus for Bioptigen, an optical start up company founded by biomedical engineering Professor Joseph Izatt at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. The Durham-based startup, which has licensed technology from Duke University, has closed on $1.3 million in financing. Investors include two angel networks Piedmont Angel Network and the Inception Micro-Angel Fund as well as several individuals. Bioptigen is developing a new class of ...

July 19, 2006

Duke's Pratt School Wins Second Hewlett-Packard Technology for Teaching Leadership Grant

Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering has won a second Technology for Teaching Leadership grant from Hewlett-Packard (HP). This project, led by Assistant Professor of the Practice Lisa Huettel, will provide 40 tablet computers and supporting equipment for use in courses across Pratt. The grant, valued at more than $120,000, was one of 10 awarded to two- and four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. Another 15 grants were awarded to K-12 schools across ...

April 23, 2006

Duke Student's Idea For Treating Jaundice In Newborns Could Impact Millions In Developing World

PhotoGenesis launches as a not-for-profit after winning Duke student business plan competition DURHAM, N.C. A team led by Duke University engineering graduate student Vijay Anand has developed an affordable LED-based jaundice treatment for newborns that will cost roughly 95 percent less than currently available technology. The technology, called Photogenesis, won the $100,000 Duke University Engineering World Health CUREs competition. Anand will receive an executive salary and one year of incubation in Duke's Pratt School ...

April 18, 2006

Duke Student Entrepreneurs To Compete for Start Up Funds

DURHAM, N.C. - Physicians who have struggled for years to monitor and treat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa could soon have a low-cost solution thanks to a team of students at Duke University. These students, and others with unique ideas to improve health care technology in developing countries, are vying for the top prize in a Duke University business plan competition Saturday. The student business named Global ImmunoDiagnostics has developed what its organizers believe is ...

March 28, 2006

New Pratt Senior Associate Dean for Industrial Partnerships and Research Commercialization Appointed

DURHAM, N.C. -- Professor Barry Myers has been appointed senior associate dean for industrial partnerships and research commercialization at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. Myers will lead the school's efforts to increase industry involvement in engineering education, research, technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. A member of the Duke faculty since 1991, Myers earned an M.D.-Ph.D. from Duke in 1991 and an M.B.A. from Duke in 2005. He is the Anderson-Rupp Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, ...

November 11, 2005

Duke Biomedical Engineering Receives Wallace Coulter Translational Partnership Award

DURHAM, NC The Biomedical Department at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering is one of only nine departments selected nationally to receive a Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Translational Research Partnership Award in Biomedical Engineering. This Award will provide $580,000 each year for the next five years. Through this Award, the Foundation will form a working partnership with the Biomedical Engineering Department to promote, develop, and support translational research through such activities as funding promising ...

October 1, 2005

Entrepreneur Kimberly Jenkins Named Executive-In-Residence at Duke Engineering Management Program

Note to editors: A photo of Kimberly Jenkins is available at: http://photo1.dukenews.duke.edu/pages/Duke_News_Service/Jenkins.jpg. DURHAM, N.C. - Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering has appointed information technology entrepreneur Kimberly J. Jenkins as executive-in-residence in the Master of Engineering Management (MEM) program. Jenkins is now serving, on a volunteer basis, as a mentor to students in the MEM program and faculty at Duke interested in technology commercialization. She also plans to explore ways to increase the number of women ...

September 29, 2005

Duke's Kristina Johnson to Speak at CED's InfoTech 2005

September 28, 2005, Research Triangle Park, NC The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) today announced that Kristina Johnson, Ph.D., Dean of Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will deliver featured comments at CED's InfoTech 2005 conference. Scheduled for October 12 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center in the RTP. CED's 15th annual InfoTech conference will highlight North Carolina's IT industry and explore the latest ...

August 26, 2005

Vivek Wadhwa Named Executive-in-Residence at Duke Engineering Management Program

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering has appointed technology entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa as executive-in-residence in the Master of Engineering Management program. Wadhwa will serve as a mentor to students in the program and assist faculty interested in commercializing technology developed at Duke. Wadhwa is the founder and ex-CEO of Relativity Technologies in Raleigh, N.C. He co-founded Seer Technologies in Cary, N.C., in 1990. From 1986 to 1990, he was vice president of information ...

April 29, 2005

Duke Wins HP Technology Grant

DURHAM, NC - Duke University was selected as one of 31 colleges and universities nationwide to receive the 2005 HP Technology for Teaching grant, which is designed to transform and improve learning in the classroom through innovative uses of technology. Duke University will receive an award package of Hewlett-Packard products and a faculty stipend valued at more than $74,000. Each of the HP Technology for Teaching grant recipients will use HP wireless technology to enhance learning ...

December 16, 2004

Technology Evaluation Program Connects Researchers to Business World

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, in collaboration with RTI International, has launched a new program designed to identify, evaluate and bring research products to market. Unlike traditional technology transfer processes found at most universities today, the new program, named TechEval, pairs researchers with experienced business leaders and students from the Masters of Engineering Management (MEM) program at Duke who then evaluate the technology in a practical, real-world environment. Qualified inventions are taken ...

January 13, 2004

Duke, GM to Jointly Explore Fuel-Cell Technology Issues

Duke University and the General Motors Corp. (GM) have reached an agreement on a multi-year, interdisciplinary teaching and research project aimed at furthering worldwide efforts to develop hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles by 2010, the university and company announced Jan. 13. Duke's Fuqua School of Business is spearheading the project, with significant participation from the Pratt School of Engineering and the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. The project formally begins Wednesday, Jan. 14, with the launch of a ...

April 30, 2003

Duke Students Secure $50,000 in Funding in Entrepreneurship Competition

DURHAM, N.C. -- MBright, a Durham-based, next-generation digital display technology company, secured the first-place seed funding of $50,000 in the April 26 Duke Start-Up Challenge. Nine start-up companies competed for more than $125,000 in seed capital and services in the final round of the Duke Start-Up Challenge's multi-stage competition. All of the participating start-up companies included students from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, Pratt School of Engineering, School of Law, School of Medicine and undergraduate ...

April 1, 2002

Technology Investory Larry Lenihan Gives $1.25 million to Pratt School of Engineering

DURHAM, N.C. - Alumnus Lawrence D. Lenihan Jr., managing director of a technology and healthcare investment company, is giving $1.25 million to Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering for a special laboratory where undergraduates can brainstorm, design and develop innovative projects. To be named the Lawrence D. Lenihan Jr. Learning Center, the lab will occupy more than 3,000 square feet in a new two-wing engineering building, tentatively named the Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medical and Applied ...

October 31, 2001

Ford Motor Co. Fund Donates $3.26 million to Duke University

DURHAM, N.C. - Ford Motor Company Fund will contribute $3.26 million to Duke University to support university initiatives that include undergraduate and graduate scholarships, community outreach programs, academic programming, minority recruiting, facilities and services, Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane announced Wednesday. Duke is one of 31 institutions in Ford's College Relations Sponsor Program (CRSP), which intends to develop long-term relationships between Ford Motor Company Fund and major educational institutions. "This latest grant is especially important because it ...

April 24, 2001

OptXCon Named 'Associate Partner' in Duke's Photonics Center

DURHAM, N.C. - OptXCon Inc., a Research Triangle Park-based company developing optical communications products, has become an associate partner in the Fitzpatrick Center for Photonics and Communication Systems at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. In announcing the alliance Monday, Pratt Dean Kristina Johnson said OptXCon will contribute $150,000 over three years to the center, which is a collaboration principally funded by industry, government and private donors. The center will focus research and teaching on light-wave communications ...

April 17, 2001

Nortel Networks Named 'Founding Partner' in Fitzpatrick Center for Photonics at Duke University

DURHAM, N.C. - Nortel Networks has been named a "founding partner" in the Fitzpatrick Center for Photonics and Communication Systems at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, opening an industry alliance aimed at boosting the center's research into the burgeoning technology that melds light with electronics. The announcement was made Tuesday by Pratt School Dean Kristina Johnson during a "Photonics in the Forest" symposium at the university on leading-edge photonics technology. As part of its agreement with Duke, ...

March 9, 2001

Associate Dean for Corporate, Industrial Relations Named at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering

ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR CORPORATE, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS NAMED AT DUKE'S PRATT SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING DURHAM, N.C. -- Russell Holloway has been named associate dean for corporate and industrial relations, a new post, at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. As a member of the senior administrative staff, Holloway will be responsible for initiating programs to promote industrial awareness among students and faculty. He will develop summer internships for undergraduates, and cooperative programs for master's students. He will organize the engineering ...

December 13, 2000

$25 Million Gift to Launch Center for Advanced Photonics and Communications Systems at Duke

$50 MILLION GIFT TO LAUNCH CENTERS FOR ADVANCED PHOTONICS AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS AT STANFORD AND DUKE DURHAM, N.C.-- High-tech entrepreneur Michael J. Fitzpatrick and his wife, Patty, will donate $25 million each to Duke and Stanford universities to establish new centers for advanced photonics, the presidents of both institutions announced Dec. 13, 2000. Engineers say photonics, a technology that melds light with electronics, is at a stage of development similar to where electronics was in the 1950s. ...

December 1, 1999

Pratt Symposium at Duke to Discuss Education of 'New Engineer'

DURHAM, N.C. - A distinguished panel from academia, government and industry will discuss the education of engineers for the 21st century during the Edmund T. Pratt Jr. School of Engineering Symposium to be held from 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday at Love Auditorium in Duke University's Levine Science Research Center. The panelists will discuss the role of the engineering profession in the post industrial manufacturing era. Panelists include: - Joseph Bordogna, deputy director of the National Science Foundation; - Larry ...

Read stories about...

Pratt People

Screening Room

Research News

Questions about this page? Contact: