Park Points - June 10, 2024

Welcome back to another edition of Park Points, a quick recap of news, information, and events relevant to KU Innovation Park’s mission and vision.

Our newsletter has launched! If you’d like to get Park news as it happens, please?subscribe here. See?what you missed in the first edition. The next newsletter is scheduled for early July.

KU + IP ?= TOP 100

For the second year in a row, the University of Kansas earned a spot on the top 100 U.S. Universities Granted Utility Patents. A utility patent, or patent for invention, is a type of intellectual property protection granted by a government for a new or improved product, process, machine or composition of matter.

• KU ranked 60th among public universities included on the list for 2023.
• Between 2001 and 2023, KU filed 376 new patent applications and had 165 patents issued.
• “Patents are incredibly important to promoting innovation, with proprietary rights to an invention often being the foundation upon which a new opportunity or business is built,” said Clifford Michaels, executive director of the KU Center for Technology Commercialization.
• The ranking comes from the National Academy of Inventors.

REGIONAL BIOSCIENCE MOMENTUM

BioNexus KC recently released its 2023 annual report, sharing the forward growth toward its mission of turning the KC region into a global leader at the nexus of human and animal health.

• One of the biggest highlights of the year was earning a Tech Hub designation for the region. KU Innovation Park was one of 60 partner organizations to support the proposal led by BioNexus KC.
• KU, KU Med Center and K-State partnered with BioNexus to present KC One Health Day, meant to share research and foster dialogue among researchers, professionals and peers.
• See the two Science2Art submissions from Jayhawks on pages 15-16 of the report.

PARK COMPANY NEWS

• Check out this episode of the Strive Summit podcast featuring Heath Robertson, founder and president of VDC Specialists, discussing AI and BIM (Building Information Modeling).
• Congratulations to Kalin Baca, co-founder and COO of Icorium Engineering Company, for being recognized as KU School of Engineering’s Outstanding Doctoral Researcher and earning the Frank Bowdish Oustanding Ph.D. Award in chemical and petroleum engineering.
• JEO Consulting Group added three jobs to its Lawrence location in 2023, earning a Foundation Award from the Lawrence Business Magazine for the second year in a row.
• Phoreus Biotech’s CEO says the company is pivoting its focus from animal health to human health.

ENTREPRENEURIAL RESOURCES

• Looking to create an elevator pitch for your company? Check out this framework from Techstars.
• Did you know the Park can provide our tenant companies with free access to SOLIDWORKS? Stop by our administrative office if you’d like to learn more.
• Check out this vast library of templates by Maria Flynn, CEO of Orbis Biosciences and author of Make Opportunity Happen, to map your entrepreneurial journey.

COFFEE AT THE PARK

Uplift Coffee will be back at the Park on Tuesday, June 18, from 7:30 – 9 a.m.

Have news and notes to share? Let Lindsey Slater , vice president of strategic communications, know?by clicking here.