Hawaii research innovations and technology companies featured at Hawaii Technology Showcase in California

Showcase will be held in Santa Clara in conjunction with TechConnect Summit 2007, one of the world's largest multi-sector technology gatherings

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Ann Park, (808) 539-3829
Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development
Kristen Bonilla, (808) 956-5039
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: May 7, 2007

HONOLULU — The University of Hawaiʻi‘s Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development (OTTED) presents its 6th Technology Showcase, which will be held for the first time on the U.S. mainland in Santa Clara, Calif., on Tuesday, May 22, 2007. Three promising UH inventions and two emerging Hawaiʻi technology companies will be in the spotlight at the Hawaiʻi Technology Showcase 2007 event at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Rooms 203-204, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., with a networking reception to follow from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Business executives, venture capitalists, scientists, former kamaʻaina interested in returning home, and others interested in technology development in Hawaiʻi are being invited. Attendees will learn about exciting new innovations developed at UH, meet the inventors and other UH representatives, and hear from two promising Hawaiʻi start-up companies, Nanopoint ( www.nanopointimaging.com) and Sopogy ( www.sopogy.com).

The UH inventions that will be presented include a novel solar-powered system for producing hydrogen and oxygen gases from water (for hydrogen fuel cell, medical, and industrial applications); unique nanocomposite materials with improved strength, stress, and fracture resistance (for use in aircraft, vehicles, consumer goods, and many resin-based products); and breakthrough technology enabling detection of multiple people through barriers, and remote, wireless, non-contact monitoring of heart and respiration rates (for use in military, search and rescue, and medical products).

Hawaiʻi Business and Entrepreneur Acceleration Mentors (HiBEAM) and the Hawaiʻi Strategic Development Corporation (HSDC) are co-sponsors of the event with UH.

A registration fee is required to attend, and is $25 for early registration and $35 for late and on-site registrations. Early registration deadline is Monday, May 14, 2007. For more information about the Hawaiʻi Technology Showcase 2007 event or to download a registration form, visit www.otted.hawaii.edu.

The Hawaiʻi event is tied in with TechConnect Summit 2007, one of the largest multi-sector gatherings of technology developers, technology-based ventures, industrial partners, and investors in the world. TechConnect Summit 2007 is being held concurrently with three other large technology conferences at the Santa Clara Convention Center—Nanotech 2007, Nanotech Ventures 2007, and Cleantech 2007, which together expect over 4,000 attendees.

UH is an exclusive Platinum Sponsor of TechConnect Summit 2007, where pre-screened technologies and early stage ventures will be presented to an exclusive audience of leading industry, academic, investment, and government representatives looking for the most promising technologies and early stage companies from across the globe. Two of the UH inventors in the Hawaiʻi Technology Showcase have been accepted for presentations at TechConnect Summit 2007.

"TechConnect Summit 2007 is an ideal venue for the University of Hawaiʻi to showcase its most promising technologies because of its prominence as a premiere technology event and its international audience," notes Richard Cox, Director of the UH Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development. "We are excited about presenting new technologies developed in Hawaiʻi, finding new partners to license and commercialize UH inventions, fostering business spin-off opportunities, and bringing recognition to UH research and innovation."

For more information about TechConnect Summit 2007, which is scheduled for May 23-24, visit www.techconnect.org/Summit2007/.


About the University of Hawaiʻi‘s Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development

The University of Hawaiʻi, which received more than $230 million in research grants in 2006, hosts world class research programs in a variety of disciplines. Besides the scientific acclaim that UH receives from its research programs, such research often leads to new inventions that may have future commercial value. The university‘s Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development (OTTED) manages the patents and intellectual property related to UH inventions, and markets these inventions to industry, with the goal of securing license deals and spinning off start up companies. OTTED also works closely with government and community leaders to promote business and economic development in Hawaiʻi. For more information about OTTED, visit www.otted.hawaii.edu.


About HiBEAM

HiBEAM, founded in 2000 and based in Honolulu, is a nonprofit organization that provides mentoring and advice to early stage Hawaiʻi technology, biotechnology, and life sciences companies to help them accelerate their growth and attract funding. The companies in the HiBEAM portfolio have raised over $60 million in equity funding to date. HiBEAM members include venture capitalists, corporate investors, angel investors, entrepreneurs, the University of Hawaiʻi, law firms, accountants, doctors, and public relations professionals. For more information about HiBEAM,, visit www.hibeam.org.


About the Hawaiʻi Strategic Development Corporation

The mission of the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation (HSDC) is to develop a sustainable venture capital industry in Hawaii, which will support the growth of viable new businesses. A state agency established by the legislature in 1990, HSDC has the primary objective of promoting economic diversification and technology development by providing investment capital to businesses in order to stimulate commercialization of research, employment, and market expansion. HSDC has committed $16 million to ten venture capital limited partnerships, which have provided equity and/or debt financing to over 60 businesses. Those companies have leveraged over $500 million in venture capital investment. The agency has also formed a diversified venture capital fund of funds and invested in an international merchant bank. For more information about HSDC, visit www.htdc.org/hsdc.

For more information, visit: http://www.otted.hawaii.edu