Spin Transfer Technologies (NYU) Announces First Orthogonal Spin Transfer MRAM Devices Using MTJ Read-Out (11/17/2010)

Spin Transfer Technologies develops and commercializes its orthogonal spin transfer magnetoresistive random access memory (OST-MRAM) technology. The technology was developed from research conducted in Professor Andrew Kent’s laboratory at NYU.

From the company’s press release:
Spin Transfer Technologies is pleased to announce at the 55th Annual Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials the first STT-MRAM device deploying the company’s proprietary orthogonal spin transfer technology with a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) for memory state read-out. The introduction of the MTJ element makes the memory device compatible with CMOS logic, and takes the orthogonal spin transfer technology a major step closer to commercialization. read full press release

OptiMedica’s (Stanford) Catalys Precision Laser System Study Published in Science Translational Medicine (11/17/2010)

OptiMedica is a medical device company focused in the area of cataract therapeutics. The company formerly developed and commercialized the PASCAL Method of retinal photocoagulation, which was developed at Stanford.

From the company’s press release:
Global ophthalmic device company OptiMedica Corp. has announced that results from a clinical study of its Catalys Precision Laser System were published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine (“Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery with Integrated Optical Coherence Tomography,” Volume 2, Issue 58, November 17, 2010). The data showed that, when compared to manual techniques, the Catalys Precision Laser System helped surgeons achieve significant improvement in precision during several critical steps of cataract surgery. read full press release

Brooke Amry Medical Center’s Center for the Intrepid unveils iWalk’s (MIT) bionic lower leg system (11/17/2010)

iWalk develops wearable devices for human augmentation. The company was founded by Prof. Hugh Herr, Associate Professor at MIT and Director of the Biomechatronics Group.

From the company’s press release:
Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) will host a press conference at the Center for the Intrepid (CFI) at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18 to demonstrate the PowerFoot BiOM by iWalk, a bionic lower leg system to restore lost function of the lower limb in service members. read full press release

PassivSystems taps Ember (MIT) to ZigBee-enable energy-saving smart home system (11/17/2010)

Ember was founded in 2001 by MIT student Andy Wheeler based on his telemetric biology study. The company develops wireless mesh networking technology.

From the company’s press release:
PassivSystems has teamed with Ember to develop a ZigBee-based home energy management system that can help homeowners cut their energy use by up to 25 percent.

England-based PassivSystems has integrated Ember’s ZigBee chips and ZigBee PRO networking protocol software into its PassivEnergy home energy management product, giving users unprecedented control over their household’s heating and hot water. read full press release

Luminus’ (MIT) PhlatLight LEDs Light Stage for Arcade Fire’s Madison Square Garden Concert (11/16/2010)

Luminus Devices’ PhlatLight is based on technology developed by Alexei Erchak as part of his PhD research at MIT. Erchak is the founder and CTO of Luminus Devices.

From the company’s press release:
Luminus Devices, developer and manufacturer of ‘big-chip’ PhlatLight® LEDs, today announced that its CBM-380-RGBW PhlatLight LEDs were used inside Vari*Lite’s VLX Wash Luminaires lighting the stage for Arcade Fire’s recent live HD webcast concert from Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York City. read full press release

MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory buys Fluidigm (Caltech) Access Array™ & Ep1™ Systems (11/16/2010)

Fluidigm was founded in 1999 to commercialize IFC technology developed by Dr. Stephen Quake when he was at Caltech.

From the company’s press release:
Fluidigm Corporation announced today that MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory (www.mll.com) has purchased Access Array™ and EP1™ Systems. The Access Array System is being used in combination with Roche’s 454 GS FLX and GS Junior sequencing instruments, enabling high-throughput targeted deep-resequencing analyses. The EP1 System is being used for rare mutation detection studies and minimal residual disease investigations. read full press release

The Audyssey (USC) South of Market Audio Dock Wins Popular Science’s Best of What’s New Award (11/17/2010)

Audyssey develops audio technologies that reproduce studio recordings, movies and live performances. The initial technology was developed by USC professors, audio industry pioneer Tomlinson Holman and audio signal processing researcher Chris Kyriakakis, Dr. Sunil Bharitkar and Philip Hilmes.

From the company’s press release:
Audyssey, a leader in audio technology for the home, automotive and theater markets, today announced that Popular Science named the South of Market Audio Dock a winner of a Best of What’s New award in the Home Entertainment category. Popular Science established the Best of What’s New competition in 1987 to formally recognize the most innovative and inventive products of the year. read full press release

Ondax (Caltech) Appoints Former Newport Corporation CEO Bob Deuster to Board of Directors (11/16/2010)

Ondax designs and manufactures Volume Holographic Gratings. The core of Ondax’s technology was developed by Dr. Christophe Moser as part of his thesis at Caltech. Other co-founders include Caltech’s Prof. Demetri Psaltis and University of Bonn’s Prof. Karsten Buse.

From the company’s press release:
Ondax, Inc, the market leader in the design and manufacture of Volume Holographic Grating filters (VHGs) and wavelength stabilized, semiconductor lasers for the industrial, defense, scientific and medical markets, announced that Robert G. Deuster has joined its Board of Directors. Mr. Deuster brings a long track record of successful executive experience in the photonics and high-technology instrumentation industries, and most recently served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Newport Corporation (NASDAQ: NEWP), a global leader in lasers, optics and photonics systems from May 1996 until his retirement in October of 2007. read full press release

Mersive (Kentucky) Secures Financing to Scale Growth of Visual Computing Software That Enables Affordable High Performance Displays (11/16/2010)

Mersive Technologies develops display management software allowing visual collaboration to go mainstream. Christopher Jaynes and Stephen Webb founded Mersive in 2006 as an offshoot of academic research started by Jaynes in 2000 at the University of Kentucky.

From the company’s press release:
Mersive Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of visual computing software that creates and manages high performance displays, today announced new financing from Adena Ventures and Hopewell Ventures. The financing supports expansion of Mersive’s early success in government and military agencies and growth in markets that also rely on advanced computer visualization, such as consumer packaged goods, oil and gas and product engineering. read full press release

Lilly to Acquire Avid Radiopharmaceuticals (Pennsylvania)

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals is a product-focused molecular imagine company. The molecular imaging agents central to Avid were developed by Dr. Hank Kung at the University of Pennsylvania. Avid founder and CEO Dr. Daniel Skovronsky was previously Scientific Director of High Throughput Screening and Drug Discovery at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research at the University of Pennsylvania.

From the company’s press release:
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced that it has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held company developing novel molecular imaging compounds intended for the detection and monitoring of chronic human diseases. Avid’s lead program in development is florbetapir F 18 (18F-AV-45), a molecular imaging agent under investigation for detecting the presence of amyloid plaque in the brain. Beta-amyloid plaque is a defining pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. A marketing application for florbetapir has recently been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The acquisition of Avid also provides Lilly with a diagnostics development platform covering several disease areas, including Parkinson’s disease and diabetes. read full press release