UAA's Dr. Helena W. Wisniewski delivered a talk at Anchorage's 49th State Angel Fund Forum, hosted by the Municipality of Anchorage and the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation on May 17, 2012. (Thanks to the Mayor's office for recording her talk, which we share with you on UAA's INNOVATE blog.)
Wisniewski is UAA's Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate School. She brings an extensive background in higher education, industry and defense, and the entrepreneurial arena of start-ups.
Her talk covers infrastructure that UAA is establishing for investors to share in the development of patents and intellectual property created through research at UAA. She touched on many examples of current work funded with INNOVATE money in January, 2012 including: the Arctic squirrels use in the study of human obesity, the special compounds in Alaska blueberries that may provide intervention in demensia and Alzheimer's research, cheap solar-powered sensors to monitor distant infrastructure and an instrumented mouthguard that can detect impact to the brain -- useful in athletics and war-time situations where head trauma is a potential, among others.
The Municipality's receipt of $13.2M from the U.S. Department of Treasury's Small Small Business Credit Initiative prompted the summit. This fund is known as the 49th State Angel Fund. UAA Chancellor Tom Case is on the 49th State Angel Fund Advisory Committee.
KEY DATES COMING UP:
- Tuesday, July 10, Noon-1 p.m.: Brown Bag for applying for 49th State Angel Funds. R.S.V.P. here.
- Wednesday, July 25, 11a.m.-1:30 p.m. , Robert Reich, AEDC Annual Outlook Lunch.
- Sunday, August 5, midnight, 49th State Angel Fund applications close.
