Zensor sensors: opening the door to research commercialization at UAA.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Telecom & Technology - Company overview

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When Dr. John Lund, a professor of engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), first began studying the remote monitoring needs of companies doing business in the Arctic, it spawned the idea of creating a longer-lasting, lower-cost, maintenance-free wireless sensor. It also launched UAA into a new role as the owner of its first ever startup company, Zensor.

While Zensor, established in February by Lund and UAA Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies Dr. Helena Wisniewski, is the first company to take part in UAA's new business infrastructure designed to commercialize innovative faculty and student research, it certainly won't be the last. Already more than twenty-five UAA entrepreneurs have filed invention disclosures; a number significantly higher than when Wisniewski joined the UAA staff less than two years ago.

The Entrepreneurial Approach

"I was hired for two main reasons--to increase the research enterprise and to get technology commercialization in place," explains Wisniewski, who has been at the university for a year and nine months. "I was delighted that they wanted to go in this direction; the talent was here, but they needed someone to come in and pull it all together. Now we've gone from three invention disclosures to more than twenty-five, and two of these are from UAA students. Also, nine of these have evolved into patents pending with more in process."

"This is an exciting time for UAA," agrees Chancellor Tom Case, adding that there were a number of reasons why the university chose to become involved in the commercialization of research. "There is real value in experiential learning, or learning by doing, in addition to classroom lectures, which is why the university has long placed an emphasis on undergraduate research. This approach also contributes to the growth of interdisciplinary work on campus, such as when engineering, computer science, and business students and faculty collaborate to take an entrepreneurial approach.

"We are also responsible for helping to meet the state's needs, especially in the area of economic development, when those needs match the university's mission," he continues. "And over time, mutually beneficial partnerships between universities and industries can result in the development of research parks clustered close to universities, which provides a good interface between entrepreneurship and research."

The Sensor that Started it All

Zensor LLC, a Seawolf...