University of Arizona inventors generated a record 307 new inventions during the 2024 fiscal year, Tech Launch Arizona announced July 29.

TLA, the UA office that commercializes inventions stemming from university research, said inventions were up from 298 in fiscal year 2023 and 303 in fiscal year 2022. The office also launched nine startups; executed 72 licenses and options for UA inventions; filed 367 patents; and had 78 patents issued.

Engineering faculty were involved in over 20% of the university’s patents for the past year. College faculty and alumni are also sharing knowledge with peers and students and ensuring inventions make it to the marketplace.

Faculty influence and educate

TLA launched the Faculty Innovation Ambassadors program in 2024 to increase commercialization activity. Two ambassadors, Hao Xin and Frederic Zenhausern, are College of Engineering professors who serve as sources of information about inventions, licensing and startups for their colleagues and students. TLA has planned a series of fall events to introduce the ambassadors to their college communities.

Xin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics, has published over 340 refereed papers and has 20 issued patents. He is an IEEE fellow and a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. In 2017, Xin co-founded the startup Lunewave Inc. to commercialize a 3D-printed Luneburg lens antenna for automotive radar sensors. The company has raised approximately $20 million and has won several awards, including the Arizona Governor’s Innovator of the Year Award in 2020.

Zenhausern is a professor of biomedical engineering, radiation oncology, clinical translational sciences and translational sciences, as well as director of the Director of the UA Center for Applied Nanobioscience and Medicine. He has co-founded four startups, authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications, and is an inventor on over 30 issued U.S. patents. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.

Applying ideas to the market

In fiscal year 2024, TLA helped launch nine startups to commercialize university inventions, up from seven the previous year. Engineering faculty and alumni were key to creating the technologies behind several new companies.

Ancerix is commercializing medical devices for orthopedic surgical procedures, invented by Daniel Latt, associate professor in the College of Medicine – Tucson and the College of Engineering, and a multidisciplinary team of inventors who are pursuing degrees or graduated from the UA, including: Emilio Araiza, an aerospace and mechanical engineering major; biomedical engineering alumni Carlos Urea-De La Puerta and Erick De Leon; and systems engineering alumni Carolina Gomez Llanos and Eva Richter.

iSeniCare is producing a frailty assessment tool for non-ambulatory patients, invented by faculty in the College of Medicine – Tucson and the College of Engineering, including professor of surgery Bijan Najafi, professor of medicine Martha Jane Mohler, and Nima Toosizadeh, a former UA assistant professor of medicine and biomedical engineering.

Vanport Technologies Inc. is commercializing a flood plain mapping technology to help communities predict and respond to flooding more effectively. The technology was invented by civil and architectural engineering and mechanics professor Jennifer Duan.