Monday night was the first in a series of 16 symposia to be held around the state and produced by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) (www.business.ca.gov), the University of California and SARTA (Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance) (www.sarta.org), which is one of the 16 California Innovation Hubs (iHubs) (http://business.ca.gov/Programs/Innovation.aspx).The UC Innovation Series was conceived by several of the leadership of GO-Biz almost a year ago, most notably Louis Stewart, GO-Biz Deputy Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. For the Davis Edition, he was assisted by UC Davis representatives, most notably Dean Steven Currall from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and Marjorie Dickinson, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Government and Community Relations, as well as Meg Arnold, SARTA CEO. AS with all of these types of collaborations, there were many other from GO-Biz, UC Davis and SARTA that helped to make the event possible and demonstrates the partnership that exists in this region.
The City of Davis and UC Davis are direct beneficiaries of the focus of the iHub program. We are members of both SARTA and the newly designated state-wide advanced manufacturing iHub, the California Network for Manufacturing Innovation (CNMI) (www.cnmi.bz). The City of Davis is also a member of Innovate North State (www.innovate-northstate.com), the Northern California iHub centered on rural agriculture and manufacturing. SARTA and Innovate North State are partnered on several initiative around the Sacramento and Northern California region.
The iHub program has gone through several iterations in its 3 ½ year existence, and Davis is unique in that it has so many linkages that result in strong opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship. Specifically, UC Davis’ leading expertise in the areas of biomed, medtech, agtech, agriscience, veterinary science, engineering and advanced manufacturing and resultant world-renowned technological and scientific advances make it a natural partner to the iHub program.
As described by the GO-Biz website, “The goal of the UC Innovation Series is to increase the visibility of the UC system as a worldwide leader in education, research, and public service, and to expand its potential to produce innovation that leads to new business growth. The Series will highlight major updates and trends in innovation within the UC system and beyond.”
The GO-Biz website goes on to state, “The UC Innovation Series has been created in order to showcase the most innovative thinkers in their selected regions and to attract a community of open-minded individuals to engage with ideas as well as each other.’
“The UC Innovation Series seeks to increase the visibility of the UC system as a worldwide leader in education, research, and public service, and expand its potential to produce innovation that leads to new business growth. The Series aims to accomplish these goals through the following activities:
- To provide UC campuses with the opportunity to showcase their ideas and innovations with businesses and stakeholders in their respective communities.
- To act as a valuable resource for the community to learn more about new ideas and innovative businesses in their selected regions.
- To strengthen the relationship between UC campuses and promote a greater sense of collaboration related to innovation and business growth in California.”
The GO-Biz website wraps up the description of the series stating, “The UC Innovation Series will create new pathways for communities to connect through ideas and innovation. This greater spirit of collaboration will help drive California’s innovation in new and dynamic ways.”
The UC Davis Edition included the following speakers:
- Linda Katehi, Chancellor, University of California, Davis
- Panorea Avdis, Chief Deputy Director, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)
- Maelene Wong, CEO & CTO, ViVita Technologies
- Judy Van de Water, Chief Scientific Advisor and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, Pediatric Bioscience
- Michele Wong, CEO, CleanWorld
- Hamish Butler, COO, Glue Networks
- Jack Crawford, General Partner, Velocity Ventures
- Steve Currall, Dean, Graduate School of Management, University of California, Davis – Master of Ceremony
Wong, Van de Water, Wong and Butler each talked at length about their respective companies or research, each connected in various ways to UC Davis. ViVita Technologies was founded in July 2012 as a regenerative medicine platform and has demonstrated early success in laboratory testing for next generation heart valve replacements and off-the-shelf replacement tissues and organs. ViVita was also the 2013 UC Davis Big Bang! Business Plan Competition http://bigbang.gsm.ucdavis.edu). Van de Water highlighted research being conducted in autoimmune and clinical immune-based disorders, including the biological aspects of autism spectrum disorders. CleanWorld is a national leader in the field of anaerobic digestion, operating and advancing research on energy systems that convert food and green waste to biogas and agricultural products. And Glue Networks is a pioneer in automation engine and networking applications for Software-Defined Wide Area networks.
A significant highlight of the evening was the presentation by Crawford. He not only discussed the local and regional efforts by Velocity Ventures to provide capital for seed and early stage technology companies, but gave an inspiring perspective on how the collaboration and partnership occurring in the region has led to investment from SF Bay Area venture funds. He went on to encourage Davis, Sacramento, and the region to think of themselves as part of the larger Northern California ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship, with the expressed outcome to be more startups and growth companies that lead to jobs and investment.
Though only one of many examples in the last few weeks of the innovation and entrepreneurial activities happening in Davis, the fact that GO-Biz partnered first with UC Davis and SARTA on the UC Innovation Series should be taken as a strong example of the benefit of proximity to the Capitol and collaborative efforts that are occurring throughout our region. Our local activities and successes are drawing attention, but we need to support and encourage the research and innovation that is now being highlighted and discussed.
UC Davis continues to demonstrate the opportunities that come from ground-breaking research advancements and strong support for commercialization of these technologies, including the World Food Center, Seed Central and the Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Our local and regional innovation partners like DavisRoots, techDAVIS, Davis Maker Space, Hacker Lab, SARTA and Innovate North State give us a unique opportunity to support new inventions and companies. And our rapidly growing tech sector being led in Davis by companies like FMC Schilling Robotics, Marrone Bio Innovations, DMG Mori, Expression Systems, Cedaron Medical Inc., Gold Standard Diagnostic and HM Clause is a clear example of the diversity of technologies and importance of our research-driven business climate.
It is because of these factors, and many others, that we are rapidly becoming known as an international center for innovation and research. We have many choices of how we might support these efforts as UC Davis and the region continue to progress towards increased importance in research and technology application. I look forward to continuing to bring local awareness to these efforts and to assist in the community dialogue of how we best support the opportunities that might result from these activities.
Like to hear more about how Davis is involved in innovation, entrepreneurship, technology or economic development? Have ideas for articles focused on these sectors that you would like to have explored? Let me know at rwhite@cityofdavis.org.
Imagine a ViVita Technologies facility in a MedTech Innovation Park adjacent to the Malcolm Baldridge Award winning Sutter Davis Hospital, growing next generation heart valves. Information about ViVita can be read at [url]http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10594[/url] Information about the recent Malcolm Baldridge Award triumph by Sutter Davis can be read at [url]http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/baylor-sutter-hospitals-receive-2013-baldrige-quality-award.html[/url]
Here is the UC Innovation Series info on ViVita
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Imagine a CleanWorld facility in the East Innovation Park in close proximity to the Yolo Landfill converting organic waste to renewable energy, soil enhancement products, and other valuable byproducts using proprietary technologies that are scalable, cost-efficient, and effective.. Information about CleanWorld can be read at [url]http://www.cleanworld.com/[/url] Information about the joint UC Davis/CleanWorld Anaerobic Phased Solids (APS) Pilot Plant is as follows:
The APS Pilot Plant proved technology utilization at scale. During the initial pilot test, it:
— Operated continuously for 10 months
— Converted roughly 5 tons of food processing waste daily
— Converted over 90% of biodegradable organics to methane
— Proved stable performance and high biogas yield from currently land-filled waste
— Developed cost model and process model for reliable scale up and engineering design
— Tested feedstocks from a northern California food waste collection program and municipal source-separated organic waste
Results of this pilot test have been presented at international symposia and in scientific journals.
Here is the UC Innovation Series info on CleanWorld and its CEO UCD grad Michele Wong
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