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E-Teams

• Novel Peptide Anti-Infectives – Multi-drug resistant microbes are considered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health to be a significant threat to public health. Recently, there is a worldwide surge in antibiotic resistance amongst microbes because of the lack of new antibiotics that reduced the ability of physicians to treat a variety of life-threatening infections. The U.S. General Accounting Office has estimated that infections caused by antibiotic-resistant organisms cost our health care system up to $44 billion per year (2004 adjusted dollars). A team of researchers at LABRI has designed novel peptides and molecular libraries of compounds that exert dramatic microbicidal activity in human blood, even against pathogens that are resistant to conventional antibiotics. This technology has potential to create new strategies to prevent or treat life-threatening infections due to multi-drug resistant organisms.
• Antibody Targeted Activated Killer (ATAK) cells – In the U.S. approximately 35,000 patients annually develop Candida and Aspergillus infections during cancer treatment. In such patients these infections cause an unacceptably high mortality (50% and 60-90%, respectively) even with available antifungal therapy. A team of researchers at LABRI has created an immortal phagocytic cell-line, called Antibody Targeted Activated Killer (ATAK) cells that can be infused into infected patients to prevent and/or treat infections. This technology has a potential to bring a new dimension to therapy of infections in neutropenic patients.
• Context Activated Peptides (drugs that overcome the problems of antibiotic resistance ) – There is an urgent need to development novel strategies to overcome antibiotic resistance and suppress microbial virulence because the threat of bioterrorism, as genetic engineering could create hypervirulent strains that are resistant to currently available antimicrobials. A team of researchers at LABRI has developed novel “smart” anti-infective agents that would significantly improve efficacy and safety of antimicrobial therapy. This technology could be used to address the problem with drug resistant to conventional antibiotics.
• Antibiotic Resistance – The emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogens has returned medical care to the pre-antibiotic era for certain infections, making them difficult or impossible to treat. A group of researchers at LABRI is studying clinical practice pattern that promote drug resistant, such as patient non-adherence with dosing instructions and antibiotic overuse. These efforts are performed for the public good rather than for commercial value.

Towards 3D GIS: The Towards 3-D GIS offers state and local municipalities a semi-automated system to more proficiently create 3-D geographic models of specific locale. Distribution of Towards 3-D GIS will utilize collaborative relationships with leading industry software providers to position Towards 3-D GIS’s initial offering as a “plug-in” device to established software. Towards 3-D Geographical Information System (GIS) (herein, GIS) was developed by the computer vision group of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) at the University of Southern California. The GIS system is a partially automatic technique of creating 3-D geographic models of remote or urban areas. Utilizing two digital pictures creating a “stereo” image, similar to human vision, a technician identifies base reference points and the software produces 3-D spatially scalable images of the locale. In contrast, the current method of producing 3-D geographic models necessitates the use of multiple angled images, various types of hardware and complete object identification from a technician. There is one working prototype of GIS on a UNIX platform. The developers understand that availability on a Windows/Intel platform is essential to the commercial viability of this product, and expect to have a prototype completed by the end of June, 2005. The current financial backer of GIS is a NGA, the National Geological intelligence Agency, and they are both closely monitoring GIS’s status and testing the prototype. According to the developers, NGA is pleased with the direction development is headed.

Biorhythm Alarm: The BioRhythm Alarm Clock is a revolutionary alarm that will wake you up at the most optimal time within your chosen time window, by monitoring your biorhythmic signals, thereby allowing you to feel more refreshed and better rested than conventional alarms would. The initial sales channels will be direct through the internet or via distributors to high-end gadget stores, both aimed to reach tech savvy customers who are comfortable with new technology.

Retinal Disease Screening Technology: Retinal Disease Screening Technology ( RDST) provides a superior method to diagnose and monitor Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Degeneration, debilitating diseases that are expected to reach epidemic levels within the next 20 years. RDST will readily supplant an existing manual methodology that is time-intensive (1-2 hour process) and requires the involvement of an ophthalmologist or highly skilled technician. The RDST is automated, eliminating the need for skilled labor, and provides results within 10-15 minutes. RDST provides the first quantitative method for diagnosing and monitoring the progression of disease. The current manual screening methodology yields only subjective, qualitative (mild, medium, severe) results. Quantitative results are critical in monitoring the progression of disease over time.

Lifeshirt Biometric Monitoring:VivoMetrics Corp. has developed the LifeShirt System, a garment that collects cardio, pulmonary and posture data. A small recorder (like a PDA) is attached to the garment. Additional devices can be attached and their data correlated with the LifeShirt System to measure blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, EEG (a graphical record of electrical activity of the brain), EOG (records eye movement), periodic leg movement, body temperature, end tidal CO2 (CO2 in the exhaled breath), and cough. The recorder sends the data to a central monitoring service either through a satellite directly or wirelessly to a computer that is connected to the Internet. Software still needs to be developed to assist staff in monitoring the patient’s vital signs. As the company matures, health care staff in India could monitor patients anywhere in the world at a fraction of the cost

.Interactive 3D: 3D Computer Interaction provides real-time high quality multi-view three-dimensional display and interaction at an affordable price using commercially available components. The ability to interact real-time with 3D imaging will be a great value proposition to the original content providers and entertainment complexes. We will also license out the image processing engine to teleconferencing and video conferencing solution providers. Three-Dimensional Computer Interaction technology, developed by Zahir Alpaslan, allows real-time interactive input and manipulation of 3D data, using a light cursor tracking system projected onto any autostereoscopic display. This multi-view, multi-user interaction system is the first 3D interaction system in the world built entirely of commercially available components and providing more pleasant 3D viewing and interaction, while completely eliminating the need to wear 3D glasses. The major advantage of this system over the existing approaches is that its two-camera configuration dramatically reduces the computation and processing time needed to track light sources, making it most viable for real time applications with no time lag between interactions. Ribbon Rider: A materials science enabled aerial tramway technology. It is a new transportation paradigm that offers cost, speed and security advantages over existing transportation systems. The Ribbon Rider family of transportation concepts derives from USPTO provisional patent 60/583,611, held by team member Derek Shannon. Ribbon Rider offers the possibility of a revolutionary expansion of the transportation industry. The technology of Ribbon Rider aerial trams will be licensed to existing aerial tram companies to offer entertainment facilities, commercial properties or government entities high-speed mass transit with low construction cost, low footprint and a high degree of safety.

Cardiac Output Monitor: Cardiac Output Monitors (COM) measure the amount of blood that exits the heart over a given amount of time. The historical ‘gold standard’ for COM has been the Swan-Ganz procedure. The Swan-Ganz procedure is an invasive procedure that requires sending a catheter through the patient’s superior vena cave, atrium and pulmonary artery. This procedure has been limited to ‘in-patients’ and has significant risk factors to consider in addition to being very expensive. The AMI-USC Cardiac Output Development Team has developed a minimally invasive technique that has shown thus far to measure as accurately as the invasive procedure the blood volume and cardiac output of subjects. The procedure works by having a dye injected into the blood system that can be detected and measured very accurately by a probe that is on the outside of the patient’s body. The only invasive aspect of the procedure is the injection of dye. The procedure will provide quantitative cardiac output information and can be done in surgical, operating and physician office settings by registered nurses or non-specialists physicians because it is easy to use. Decisions regarding the condition of the patient’s heart can be made with the information obtained by the COM.

Patternmaker: Patternmaker (PM) and Perfect Fit (PF) software coupled with Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL)3D Body Scanning hardware enables designers, retailers and manufacturers to facilitate the production of clothes with custom measurements. These technologies offer time and material savings during design and manufacturing allowing consumers access to apparel that is measured and cut for them while shopping via the internet and/or visiting large retail chains and shopping centers. The software consists of two programs developed by Brian and Gary Pickrell. PM assists apparel designers and pattern-makers with resizing designs and incorporates human body measurements with ratios that are widely used and accepted by the apparel industry. Using these measurements in an algorithm, PM employs the use of macros to allow users to easily adjust various dimensions of a piece of clothing without drastically changing the original design. PF is a web-retail interface for consumers who wish to order custom-tailored clothes, and is based on the same engine that runs PM.

Remote Media Immersion: The Remote Media Immersion/Hydra technologies can be instrumental in capturing, streaming, and rendering high-definition video and “Immersive Audio” over the internet. The architecture offers a distributed system for real-time and time-shifted delivery of continuous media (CM). It is a completely modular system, designed to integrate and expand storage components dynamically. The technologies are composed of three main components:

• YIMA Server - The YIMA server is at the heart of the architecture. It allows for distribution of up to 60+ Megabits per Second of digital content over IP networks. Two of YIMA’s competitive advantages are the SCADDAR (Scaleable Array of Discs Distributed and Arranged Randomly) and a flow control technologies. SCADDAR is termed a Pseudo-Random storage algorithm, which allows YIMA to store digital content randomly across an infinite number of discs and server nodes. SCADDAR is the technology that allows RMI to easily expand its storage components. For example, as the number of users that subscribe to any given broadcast stream expands, additional resources can be dynamically utilized by the server-farm to ensure smooth delivery of CM. The flow control algorithm is an enhancement to the RTSP protocol and allows the client to communicate with the server and manage the flow rate of data. For this algorithm to be effective, the client must possess the ability to use persistent storage as a buffer for incoming CM data. Roger Zimmermann is the chief architect of this technology.
• Immersive Audio - Immersive Audio was developed by extensive auditory immersion studies to find the optimal number and positions for speakers to immerse the audience into the content. It is a 10.2 surround sound system (10 speakers and 2 sub-woofers), as opposed to the 5.1 current systems. For the ultimate experience the content should be captured in the 10.2 format, but the IMSC has developed technologies to turn existing non-10.2 content into 10.2 content.
• Hydra - Hydra is a new version of the YIMA server that allows for live streaming of high-definition content over IP networks. Hydra enhances the YIMA server in that it allows the distribution of CM in real-time. While YIMA can be thought of as a server for stored and converted CM, HYDRA adds the real-time component to the architecture that allows clients to receive CM in real-time. In simple terms, HYDRA allows the ‘Live’ streaming of CM. Remote Media Immersion and Hydra have both been developed at the Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) at USC. Roger Zimmermann and Chris Kyriakakis are the two chief architects to the technology. This technology has been developed and has evolved over the last four years and including one unsuccessful spin-off venture in that

Flatworld: Flat World is a mixed reality environment used for training and education. This systems ability to combine common off the shelf technologies and immersive audio technologies with immersive content creates virtual reality training and educational programs. This system will be sold to video game developing companies and athletic training departments providing an unprecedented level of video game audience immersion and virtual training capabilities. The FlatWorld project attempts to create a virtual reality environment, allowing users to freely walk and run through simulated buildings, rooms, and streets. It was inspired by the Star Trek Holodeck’s concept; a room that could be transformed into a completely different environment for training or leisure purposes. The technology combines high-tech computer imaging techniques with Hollywood set creation to provide a new virtual world.

Sample of Fall 2002 E-Teams

Advanced Hydrofoil Systems	SolarTech
The Beta Probe	SimuWare
Express 3D: Facial Expression Cloning	Equigene
Bionnix Inc
Lightstage Inc.

 

Advanced Hydrofoil Systems
Konstantin Matveev, Ph.D. Caltech
Trey Adams, MBA, USC
Roderick Dick, MBA, UCLA
Ed Caner, MS, Case Western
Stuart McMuldroch
Larry WnukA prominent concept that has gained wide acceptance in the boating industry is the hydrofoil. Essentially, a hydrofoil works like a wing in the water. The boat’s hull is lifted from the water, decreasing drag and improving performance. As early as 1898, Enrico Forlanini, an Italian engineer developed a model by examining mathematical relationships. Later he produced and tested a full size craft. Thousands of hydrofoils are in service around the world. Until now, there has not been an easy way for the boating enthusiast to convert a standard hull boat into a sleek hydrofoil. AHS plans to develop and produce a hydrofoils system that can be easily installed in cruiser type pleasure boats from 20 to 50 feet in length. These systems will be both custom installations performed by AHS staff and kits purchased from AHS and installed by the boater or a boat yard of his or her choice. The system will nearly double the boat’s top speed, cut fuel consumption, and increase the boat’s stability through certain seas states. It will also make the boat on which it is installed one of the coolest darn things on the waterfront. The company’s success depends upon the founder’s ability to secure government or private sources of funding to take the project through initial research and development., Market research has shown that the most important concerns for boaters are safety and reliability. Any system developed by AHS must dramatically improve performance, but it must also be safe and reliable.

The Beta Probe
Tyler Barnes, MBA, Marshall
Sean Caffey, MD/MBA USC
Trisha Mehta, MBA, Marshall
Jesse Singh, MBA, MarshallThe beta radiotherapy probe is a handheld, disposable medical device that will be the most effective available treatment of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the Western World, by providing localized delivery of beta radiation in an ophthalmic surgical procedure. The radiotherapy probe will be sold, via Federal Express, directly to retinal surgeons and hospitals to allow them to provide their patients with superior health care at a lower cost. Manufacturing of the Beta Probe will be outsourced, and the company formed will manage assembly, quality control, and distribution of the Beta Probe, as well as marketing of the Beta Probe. Additionally, two additional revenue streams will exist stemming from the sale of the Beta Probe: training and disposal. Each physician and auxiliary staff member who uses the Beta Probe will have the strongly recommended option to become licensed to use the device to learn proper usage and handling techniques. The formed company will also offer a disposal service to capitalize on the customer’s desire for ease of use.

Express 3D: Facial Expression Cloning
Martin Buser, MBA, Marshall
Juji Harimoto, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering
Junyong Noh, Ph.D. EngineeringAbout 250,000 users worldwide currently create professional 3D animation including facial animation. Creating 3D facial animation is a time consuming and very expensive task and technology that reduces time and makes the process easier is in high demand. Express 3D is a company that develops and sells a plug-in software application based on the facial expression cloning technology that allows animation artists and game developers to copy previously created facial animation to a new 3D character (using their own animation library or buying facial animation from an animation library). The software significantly reduces time required to generate 3D facial animation, is easy to learn, and can be purchased from the company website (download or CD-ROM by mail).Based on the feasibility analysis Express 3D will seek the necessary funding to start this venture and try to release the first product at the SIGGRAPH 2003 conference. If the necessary funding cannot be received Express 3D would try to develop the plug-in product with the help of a computer sciences student instead of a professional programmer which would reduce the development costs but prolong the development time. The SIGGRAPH 2003 conference would then be used to present a prototype and solicit customer feedback.

Bionnix Inc
Josephine Chang, MBA, Marshall
Hilton Kaplan, MD, Ph.D. Candidate Biomedical Engineering
Roberto Lee Jr., MBA, Marshall
Nicholas Sachs, Ph.D. Candidate Biomedical EngineeringEvery year there is 3.5 to 5 Million people in the U.S. suffering from pressure ulcers. And estimates of 60,000 persons die annually from ulcer-related complications. Pressure ulcers represent a common but preventable medical problem encountered by primary care practitioners providing care to older patients, particularly in hospital and nursing home settings. BIONNIX Inc. provides more effective and cost efficient cutting-edge method of prevention of pressure ulcers using injectable muscle stimulators called BIONs. These therapeutic systems will be marketed to health insurance providers, physicians, and patients, and sold to hospitals providing them with new revenue stream and a more effective treatment for their patient. BIONNIX will build its brand reputation and recognition in the industry through by marketing to hospitals, medical device trade shows, and by the sales force. As a growth strategy, it will negotiate with the Alfred Mann Institute to have first rights to all future BIONs technology.

Lightstage Inc
Craig Cochrane

Lightstage, Inc. (LSI) will provide visual effects innovation to customer groups working in entertainment production: visual effects firms, entertainment studios producing television programs and feature films, production companies producing commercials and music videos. LSI will service an additional customer group outside of entertainment production: museums and preservationists.Customer testing has taken place. Sony Picture Imageworks, a leading visual effects firm, has accessed and paid for the services of Lightstage 2 and will use the resulting data in a feature film to be released in 2003. Other visual effects firms are currently inquiring about the Lightstage facilities at ICT.

SimuWare
Denny Fish, MBA, Marshall
David Webber, MBA, MarshallSimuWare is an interactive training application designed for financial institutions who want to subject their employees to real-life, high pressure situations so they can learn through simulated experiences without the organization incurring the real costs associated with poor decision making. This collaborative distance-learning platform, sold directly and implemented by our technical experts, actively responds to user and instructor input in order to increase an employee’s ability to react and execute decisions in high stress environments.

SolarTech
Dominique Grinnell
Patrick MoirSolartech is a revolutionary dual axis sun-tracking illumination system that delivers greater illumination while dramatically lowering lighting costs in industrial settings. Solartech’s patentable daylighting technology reduces daytime use of electrical lights by redirecting sunlight throughout the building, resulting in annual electricity savings of $50,000 to $100,000 for a typical 130,000 square foot building.

Solartech has relatively low startup costs, will return sustainable positive cash flow within two years, and has virtually completed its research and development efforts, making all R&D costs to this point sunk costs.

Equigene
Kevin Juno, MBA, USC
Carlos Quinonez, Ph.D. Caltech

Pinhookers speculate on thoroughbreds that other owners have passed over, train them and run them in races for roughly one year, and sell them for a profit. This venture can be risky, however, as horses can fall ill or die while being pinhooked, resulting in a total loss on investment for the pinhooker. Equigene will provide racehorse pinhookers with piece of mind about their horses’ future health and higher returns on horse sales through genetic analysis performed by its on-site technician staff. By evaluating horses that pinhookers intend to purchase, Equigene can determine through genetic analysis if a target horse is susceptible to illness or has a propensity for injury and recommend against purchasing that horse. This service will save the pinhookers several thousand dollars per horse in illness related expenses and provide them with the piece of mind that their horses will not become ill while under their care. Additionally, Equigene will provide pinhookers with a genetic bill of health for horses they intend to sell, allowing its clients to obtain a higher resale price from buyers. Given the level of risk involved in this market, pinhookers will gladly pay for these services in order to reap their benefits.

Sample of Fall 2001 E-teams

SCADDAR Software	Transmembrane Biosciences
Virtual Visit	Cytograft Tissue Engineering, Inc.
Microwave Bonding Instruments, Inc.	HDR Shop
VR Systems

VR Systems-Exhibitors at the Smithsonian's "March Madness for the Mind," March 15, 2002
Skip Rizzo Ph.D. USC IMSC
Thomas C. Pintaric, MS USC IMSC
David Groves, MBA
Greg Walbridge, MBA
Sung Hoon Hong, MBA
A promising trend in the mental health field is the use of virtual reality for treatment of phobias. Given the numerous advantages of cost, time, and effectiveness, the medical community has embraced this new technology. VRVS uses a panoramic video technology that allows realistic scenarios to be produced at lower cost and in less time. This technology will be sold to therapists in clinical practice, health care groups, hospitals, and education/research entities. VR Systems won "Best Feasibility Analysis" for an e-team in the fall of 2001 and was invited by the Lemelson Foundation and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance to exhibit their technology at the Smithsonian in Washington DC in March 2002. They were the hit of the expo and were interviewed for ABC News.

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SCADDAR Software
Didi Yao -Ph.D. Computer Science, IMSC
Karen Demeter - MBA
Scaling Disks for Data Arranged Randomly (SCADDAR) is software that allows for the scaling of disks to a server storage system in a simple and easy process. Incorporating efficient data movement during scaling and fault tolerance capabilities, SCADDAR is a solution targeted at enterprise and streaming media server industries. SCADDAR offers easier maintenance at lower cost. Storage and server providers will experience no downtime because they will never have to shut down the system. An obvious benefit will be the ability for customers to stay on-line continuously. SCADDAR Software will open for business in September 2002 and launch its first software in April 2003.
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Virtual Visit
Nicholas Sachs - Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering
Philip Nulud, Biomedical Engineering
Jennifer Sullivan - MBA
Katlyn Cho - MBA
Hyoung Lim - MBA
Virtual Visit is a set-top videoconferencing system with simplicity and convenience in mind to help improve and enhance the way the elderly communicate with their family and friends. Virtual Visit incorporates a telephone line, a high-speed Internet connection and a TV to allow users to virtual visit each other anytime through an audio/video interaction with the easy click of a remote control. Virtual Visit is about a year away from its launch to the primary market, assisted living facilities. This team has been invited by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) to present their technology at the Smithsonian in March.

Microwave Bonding Instruments, Inc.
John Mai, Ph.D. Caltech
John Fischer - MBA
Microwave Bonding Instruments (MBI) provides a technologically innovative solution for the $4.6 billion microchip packaging industry. It gives integrated circuit manufacturers and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) researchers a patented technology to hermetically stack microelectronic and optical components as well as increase the number of electrical interconnects within their system designs. The resulting benefits are bonds that are one hundred times thinner than those provided by existing bonding technologies, and bonds that can be implemented in a parallel process, significantly reducing manufacturing cycle times. MBI expects to sell 10 Microwave Bonders in year two to customer contacts that have been established.

Transmembrane Biosciences
Hiep-hoa Nguyen (Hoa) Ph.D. Caltech
Julie-ann Pina, MBA
Melanie Corcoran, MBA
G-Ceptor Sciences (now Trans Membrane BioScience) was an e-Team project for the summer of 2001. The technology is a set of new methods for creating and growing genetically engineered organisms that over-express membrane proteins. The technology came from a Caltech scientist, and will be licensed out of the technology transfer office there. Julie-ann Piña) identified the first market (pharmaceutical discovery) and researched the environment facing that customer base. This technique is patented and offers a far more efficient method of generating the quantities that large pharmaceutical companies desire. Over the course of the feasibility study (completed with Melanie Corcoran) it became clear that there are other substitute technologies for achieving the customer's true end goal. Pharmaceutical companies need to quickly identify drug candidates that are less likely to fail in clinical trials, and more likely to improve significantly on existing treatments - therefore gaining market acceptance. Although the inventing scientist was initially attracted to the resources that e-Team and USC offer, he struggled with taking the steps necessary to allow this technology to become the approach of choice over substitute methods. At the end of the study, the issue was whether the desire for control would win out over the desire to see the technology and company succeed.

Cytograft Tissue Engineering, Inc.
Todd McAllister, Ph.D.
Nicholas L'Heureux, Ph.D.
Matthew Petrime, MBA
Cytograft Tissue Engineering, Inc was founded to commercialize an innovative tiss-engineered blood vessel called Lifeline in the medical device and cell therapy arenas. For the surgeon and hospital, this TEBV represents a clinical alternative for patients lacking healthy natural vessels required for traditional arterio-venous (AV) access. It is also an alternative to the problematic synthetic graft that is often used in this surgical procedure. Its benefits include lower hospital costs and improved quality of patient's lives. Product launch is estimated for November 2004 after clinical trials.

HDR Shop
Paul Debevec, Ph.D. USC ICT
Ellen Hsu, MBA
Clarity and Light is a company committed to assisting and supporting artists, designers, and scientists in creating highly developed digital imagery through the transfer of breakthrough technology and steadfast technical support. HDR Shop is a digital image editing software designed to allow the artist, designer or scientist to accurately and naturally illuminate computer graphic objects with natural light in a manner that represents a significant savings in execution and training time. HDR Shop will be distribution via the company web site.