Entrepreneurship Center at UC San Diego Hosts First Annual Technology Showcase

July 28, 2008

By Daniel Kane

Members of the app2you team describe how their build-your-own-database-driven-Web-app works at the von Liebig technology showcase.

Technologies developed at UC San Diego landed in the spotlight on July 16 at an entrepreneurship technology showcase organized by UC San Diego’s von Liebig Center, the first commercialization facility of its kind in the country. The von Liebig Center’s mission is to inspire entrepreneurism and catalyze commercialization of UC San Diego inventions through grants, education and business mentoring.

About 60 venture capitalists, angel investors and potential strategic partners converged on the UC San Diego campus to learn more about fifteen university technologies and early stage companies—most of which are from the Jacobs School of Engineering.

UC San Diego professors, former students and business partners all took the podium and pitched their respective technologies.

Mike Elconin, a von Liebig advisor and president of Tech Coast Angels and the emcee for the event, explained to the audience that each of the three minute presentations should give “just enough information to get people talking.”

Rosibel Ochoa, acting executive director of the von Liebig Center with Larry Cohn from showcase sponsor Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth Attorneys at Law.

And the talking did follow. After the last of the rapid pitches, the presenters returned to their booths and the venture capitalists, angel investors and potential strategic partners engaged the presenters in conversations.

“It was very satisfying to see the high level of interaction between the researchers and potential investment and commercial partners,” said Rosibel Ochoa, acting executive director of the von Liebig Center.

“We made some good contacts with potential investors and industry partners at the technology showcase. I am looking forward to seeing how these relationships will grow,” said Geert Schmid-Schoenbein, one of the founders of the startup InhibeX.

Presented technologies at the showcase included:
***Energy absorbing “liquid sponges” for helmets, running shoes and more ***Unprecedented high-capacity visualization capabilities (HIPerWall)
***Do-it-yourself Web programming
***New treatment possibilities for Type 2 Diabetes
***New genome sequencing technologies
***Revolutionary High Performance Red LEDs

See all technologies / company profiles online at:
https://app2you.com/apps/vlcshowcase/profiles

In January 2008, UC San Diego’s von Liebig Center received national recognition by the Kauffman Foundation as one of two proof of concept centers which serve as effective vehicles for helping to launch the commercialization of university innovation and to fill the seed-stage funding gap for new technologies.

Media Contact: Daniel Kane, 858-534-3262