On March 13th, the Office of Technology Licensing will hold its 8th annual Celebration of Innovation. Half of the startup companies featured in this year’s event have their origins in the College of Engineering.
These Gator Engineering startups represent the spectrum of different departments and disciplines that make up the college, including materials, mechanical, aerospace, computer, electrical, systems and biomedical engineering.
This year’s startups include:
Altavian
Altavian is an aerospace company founded and operating in Gainesville by three UF alums, including mechanical and aerospace graduates Thomas Rambo and Thomas Reed. Altavian designs, builds and sells advanced unmanned aircraft with data collection algorithms for civilian and military applications.
Comm N Sense
Comn-N-Sense’s management team includes electrical, computer, agricultural and biological engineers from UF, coming together to offer supply chain solutions for highly perishable products, from produce and seafood to organs needed for transplants. This research area was recently included as a priority for UF’s preeminence funding.
Cool Flow Dynamics
Cool Flow Dynamics plans to target the supermarket industry with their retrofit solution to making open-case refrigerators more energy efficient. Serving as chief technical officer is UF’s Subrata Roy, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and fellow in the Royal Society of Engineering.
Covitect
Covitect is a bioengineering company that accelerates life science technology with automated systems. Hugh Fan, an associate professor of both mechanical and aerospace engineering and biomedical engineering at UF, plays a key role in the company’s scientific advisory board.
Kinwa
By distributing “Bubble” to dozens of local merchants, mobile app developer Kinwa has gathered the feedback needed to develop a software product that disrupts the way a business connects with its community. Kinwa’s management team includes Gator Engineering alums David Muir (EE), Leland Cerauskis (CISE), and Blake Matson (ECE).
Paracosm
Paracosm is out to 3D-ify the world with its high-speed, cloud-based mapping and modeling software. They recently partnered with Google. Founder Amir Rubin (ECE) has been at the center of several successful local startups, and for this one he’s enlisted the help of Karl Dockendorf – a robotics researcher who earned his PhD at UF in biomedical engineering.
Sharklet Technologies
The company started by Anthony Brennan, UF’s Margaret A. Ross Endowed Professor of Materials Science & Engineering and professor of biomedical engineering, has patented a surface solution that responds to medical needs. Sharklet is a material that inhibits bacterial contamination of surfaces with its unique pattern and texture that mimics the surface of shark skin.