PATENTED SUCCESS

Research universities are complex creatures, their missions too broad to be captured by any one metric. But as the University of Houston expands its focus on innovation and all that entails, the growing number of utility patents issued for faculty discoveries offers a useful lens. For each of the last four years, UH has ranked among the top 100 global universities for the number of utility patents issued – it tied with Texas A&M University for the 2019 list, with 28 utility patents issued in 2018. The National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association compile the rankings of utility patents, defined as covering the discovery of a new or useful process, machine or composition of matter, or a substantial improvement of a previous version.

Here are a few notable examples.

Killer Cure

Viruses can be natural killers, an idea explored by Shaun Xiaoliu Zhang, director of the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling, in his work in cancer virotherapy, which employs viruses modified to allow them to replicate in malignant cells but not in normal cells. That allows the modified virus to kill the host cells – that is, the tumor – while sparing healthy tissue. Zhang, working with Xinping Fu, a research associate professor at the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling, developed a form of the herpes simplex virus to be used in cancer therapy. Clinical trials will be next, and Zhang said the oncolytic virus is likely to be combined with an immunotherapy when it moves to the clinic.

Patent No. 10,039,796 covers Mutant Herpes Simplex Virus-2 for cancer therapy.

Clean Water, Save Energy

Contaminated water is a serious problem globally, but most available treatment technologies are complicated and expensive, making them unsuitable for the developing world. Debora Rodrigues, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, has developed several nanocomposite coatings, which can be used to filter water inexpensively and remove a variety of toxic chemicals and microorganisms. Working with chemist Rigoberto Advincula and Fritz Claydon, professor of electrical and computer engineering, along with members of her lab, Rodrigues developed a filter that simultaneously removes bacteria and heavy metals.

Patent No. 9,855,533 covers the nanocomposite polymer-carbon based nanomaterial filters for the simultaneous removal of bacteria and heavy metals.

Brain Power

Robotic exoskeletons and prosthetics that allow people with disabilities to function more independently are modern medical miracle machines. The holy grail for the devices is to integrate their operation with the users’ brains so seamlessly that people with paralysis are able to walk easily, across all types of surfaces, or a bionic arm can easily grasp a glass and drink. Jose Contreras- Vidal, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and members of his lab, including Atilla Kilicarslan, now an assistant research professor in the department, have spent years working to perfect a noninvasive brain-machine interface that allows the devices to better mimic the users’ intentions.

Patent No. 10,092,205 covers methods for closed-loop neural-machine interface systems.

Superconducting Tapes

Energy efficiency plays a key part in efforts to ensure a growing global population has access to electricity in order to raise their standard of living. High-performance superconducting tapes – able to transmit electrical current without any loss – could be vital. Venkat Selvamanickam, M.D. Anderson Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Advanced Manufacturing Institute and the Applied Research Hub at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH, oversees a pilot-scale superconducting wire manufacturing research facility at the UH Technology Bridge. Among his latest patents on the process, he and Goran Majkic, a research professor at TcSUH, received one in 2018 to improve the process.

Patent No. 9,892,827 covers methods and systems for fabricating high-quality superconducting tapes.

Smartphone Microscope

Wei-Chuan Shih, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Yu-Lung Sung, a doctoral student at the time of discovery, drew a flurry of publicity with their announcement in 2015 that they had discovered an inexpensive way to create a polymer lens capable of turning an inexpensive smartphone into a microscope, suitable for use by schoolchildren – the lenses cost just a few cents to produce – or as a diagnostic tool for small or rural health care clinics.

Patent No. 9,995,851 covers their discovery of how to fabricate the lenses by droplet formation on a pre-heated surface.