Faculty Startups

Current faculty who have founded their own companies include:

• Professors Tillman Gerngross and Charles Hutchinson founded GlycoFi, Inc., a company specializing in yeast glycoengineering and optimization of biologic drug molecules. In 2006, GlycoFi became part of Merck, Inc.
• Professor Tillman Gerngross is co-founder of ADiMaB, a company that is developing an integrated approach to antibody discovery, maturation, and biomanufacturing.
• Professor Robert Graves is the founder of Ve-design, Inc., a company that develops decision support tools and associated services to optimize cost, time and reliability parameters for product development.
• Professor Lee Lynd is co-founder of Mascoma Corp., a company that develops technology for cost-effective conversion of cellulosic biomass for alternative energy.
• Professors Keith Paulsen and Paul Meaney are co-founders of Microwave Imaging System Technologies, Inc., a company that is developing a microwave-based imaging system for breast cancer diagnostics.
• Professor Victor Petrenko founded Ice Engineering LLC to market his patented electonic technology for products that interact with ice and snow—from enhancing performance on skis to de-icing power lines or airplane wings.
• Professor Laura Ray and Adjunct Professor Robert Collier are co-founders of Sound Innovations, Inc., a company that is applying active noise reduction (ANR) technology to improve audio listening, communication, and human comfort in noisy environments.
• Professor B. Stuart Trembly is founder and chief scientific officer of Avedro (formerly ThermalVision Inc.), a company that is developing a thermal technique for reshaping the cornea.
• Adjunct Professor Emeritus Robert Dean, is founder or co-founder of these companies:
  • Creare, Inc. (engineering research and development)
  • Hypertherm (metal cutting technology)
  • Creare Innovations Inc. (xerography and motion control), now FUJIFILM Dimatix, Inc. (four color, hot wax, drop-on-demand printers)
  • Verax (production mammalian-cell culture systems)
  • Synosys, now PerSeptive Biosystems, division of Perkin-Elmer (biotechnology instruments and process equipment)
  • Synergy Research Corporation (motion-control and reprographics engineering)
  • Synergy Innovations, nanotechnology, materials processing, thermal sciences, energy sources
  • Simbex, technology for sports safety and healthcare