Annual Review 2012 Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency
Annual Review 2012 Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency
Mission “To extend the impact of Unicamp’s education, research and extension through the development of partnerships and initiatives that stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in benefit to the society.”
Unicamp
University of Campinas
President
Dean of Graduate Programs
Fernando Ferreira Costa
Euclides de Mesquita Neto
General Coordinator
Dean of Research
Edgar Salvadori De Decca
Ronaldo Aloise Pilli
Dean of University Development
Dean of Extension
Paulo Eduardo Moreira Rodrigues da
João Frederico da Costa Azevedo
Silva
Meyer
Dean of Undergraduate Programs
Vice President for University
Marcelo Knobel
Coordination José Ranali
Executive Director
Graphic Design and Layout
Roberto de Alencar Lotufo
Gustavo Pizzo
Director of Technology Transfer
Text
and Intellectual Property
Adriana Gonçalves Arruda
Patricia Tavares Magalhães de
Stephanie Alves Robbi
Toledo
Vanessa Sensato Russano Véronique Hourcade
Pictures Antoninho Perri – Ascom Unicamp
Journalist in Charge
Antônio Scarpinetti – Ascom Unicamp
Vanessa Sensato Russano
Felipe Christ
MTB 05046-DTR/PR
Inova Unicamp Annual Review
Summary Message from the directors
6
Inova Unicamp in numbers
10
Key performance indicators
12
Technology licensing cases in 2012
20
Technology minimizes the interference caused by the dispersive effect of communication channels
21
New variety of Stevia favors a production chain in agriculture
34
Researches in optical area aim at optimizing time and reduce costs
22
Photometer for fuel analysis brings advantages to distributor and consumers
36
Algorithmic method prevents cloning of computer devices
24
Technology developed in Unicamp innovates the food industry
Digital TV benefits from Unicamp-developed technology
38
26
Technology increases the efficiency in preparing samples for chemical analyses
40
41 42
BioTest: software offers entertaining based on Biology knowledge
28
Natural dye for the textile industry from the residue of eucalyptus exploration
30
Polarimeter based on laser and without mobile parts reduces the time of analysis and enables the use of colored samples
32
An electrode detects oxygen in water without producing a residue
Nanoparticles of silica improve the agrochemicals activity
Message from the directors
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
Year 2012 became the new milestone in the history of Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency due to significant results which led us to exceed 2011 figures and to establish new records in different areas. This successful background is composed of 13 technology licensing contracts, 107 inventions disclosures, 73 patents applications filed in Brazil, 21 PCT applications (Patent Cooperation Treaty) and 29 software registration requests in 2012. That outstanding performance comprises Unicamp’s best innovation results since the first patent application was filed by the University in 1984. Besides the quantitative results and the consolidation of mature practices in managing our activities, we should also highlight the efforts to constantly improve our service for the academic community and for companies interested in setting up innovation partnerships with Unicamp. In relation to the service for the academic community, we applied our positive experience in 2011 with the online invention disclosure system targeted at Unicamp inventors who, in turn, aim at applying for a patent application and we launched in 2012 a new system targeted to online registration of computer programs. This has resulted in an easier interaction with Unicamp inventors and therefore, we considerably increased the number of invention disclosures from 61 in 2010 to 107 in 2012 and the number of software registration requests from 13 in 2011 to 29 in 2012. In relation to our support for companies which aim at establishing innovation partnerships with Unicamp, we launched a new site and a new webpage where you can find profiles of patents and software available for licensing. The webpage is a tool to increase the visibility of University technologies available for trade and, therefore makes the initial contact of companies with our team easier through fast access to information about Unicamp technologies. In 2012, we moved forward with works about Unicamp Science and Technology Park, which is a space targeted to implement collaborative research labs that favor the relationship of the university with companies and institutions that promote innovation. Today, the Park is a reality, as we can see the urban plan, the new building of technology-based companies’ incubator and the Lab for Innovation in Biofuel (LIB) in final construction phases.
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8
Several activities which involve the entrepreneurial ecosystem actors of Campinas such as the Unicamp Challenge of technological innovation, the disciplines and the group of entrepreneurship studies also express the consolidation of the technological entrepreneurship area in Unicamp. Those activities aim at making our University more and more entrepreneurial and consequently the ecosystem surroundings more and more active and rich in opportunities which can lead the results of Unicamp researches to benefit the society. Within the institutional framework, we can highlight the reinforcement of the partnership with Cambridge Enterprise which provided Unicamp a better approach with the University of Cambridge and its innovation system. Finally, we completed InovaNIT project last year which was designed by Inova Unicamp with the support of The Brazilian Agency of Innovation (FINEP). The project mission was to help Science and Technology Institutions to structure, institutionalize, and continuously improve their innovation management through theoretical qualification of professionals and students, based on very successful practices of the Agency and other domestic and foreign institutions. Based on comments received from participants of several trainings and with the conclusion of the project, we were able to certify that we contributed in a solid and positive way with the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation by offering in person and e-learning free courses throughout the country. Inova Unicamp continues to support the Technology Transfer Offices of the country to constitute and improve their activities through two main activities: our monthly institutional visits, which can be scheduled on our website, and through annual developed publications such as this report and articles.
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
We believe that Inova remarkable results in all its working areas are the outcome of Unicamp teaching quality and researches, as well as consequence of the spreading of the intellectual property culture in the academic community. We truly thank the whole Community of Unicamp for their trust and commitment to all Agency activities, especially teachers, students, and researchers who maintain a solid relation with our team and who are more and more engaged to take their technologies to the society. We thank the sponsors CNPq, FAPESP, FINEP and Unicamp Dean Office for their support in essential activities so that the interaction of university-company becomes a reality. We thank Inova Unicamp Team which is more and more solid and qualified to perform our mission in an efficient and competent way.
Patricia Tavares Magalh達es de Toledo
Roberto de Alencar Lotufo
Director of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer
Managing Director
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Inova Unicamp in numbers
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
11
Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer BR patent applications filed1
52
52
51
67
73
Non-BR patent applications filed
4
8
16
14
1
PCT applications2
13
5
12
12
21
Patents granted3
8
14
8
9
10
Portfolio of patents (in force) 4
625
664
705
765
821
Software registration requests
10
8
4
13
29
Software registration granted
10
45
9
6
12
Invention disclosures
72
55
61
94
107
Written opinion responses
237
254
311
199
230
Cumulative active licenses
34
36
43
52
63
4
4
7
10
13
286.195,00
195.713,00
191.681,00
724.752,00
384.638,33
15
8
5
13
10
9
10
1
7
1
18
18
16
Licenses signed Licenses income (in R$) Industry sponsored research agreements signed5
Tenants resident in Incamp Companies graduated from Incamp
Support for technology-based start-ups 10 10 11 6
3
Institutional relationship Events and Courses Promoted by Inova
33
42 Team
Number of full time equivalent employees
30
28
18
20
25
Number of temporary employees 6
21
19
20
19
17
Notes 1 Applications for domestic patent filed in Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial. 2 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). 3 In Brazil and Abroad. 4 Patents that were filed in Brazil or abroad (IP, UM, CA – Certificate of Addition -, NP – national phase). Index started to be measured at 2011.
5 This number only considers agreements negotiated by Inova Unicamp. It does not represent the total income generated by industry sponsored research agreements signed by Unicamp. 6 Number of temporary collaborators include collaborators linked to projects and interns.
Key performance indicators
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
13
80
73 70
67 60
60
BR patent applications filed (2000-2012)
67
60 55 53
50
50
52
52 51
40 30
29
20
22
10
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
25
21 20
15
13
12
11
12
10
5
5
1
1
1
2
4
5
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
PCT Applications (Patent Cooperation Treaty) (2001-2012)
14
14
14 12
Patents granted (2001-2012)
10
10
10 9 8
8
8
6
4
4
4
4
2
2
2 2
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
900
765
800
Portfolio of patents (in force) (2002-2012)
700
593
600
445
Patents that were filed in Brazil or Addition -, NP – national phase).
400 300
Index started to be measured at 2011.
705
506
500
abroad (IP, UM, CA – Certificate of
625
664
821
315
363
250
200 100 2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
15
120
107 100
Invention disclosures (2004-2012)
80
80
72
66 60
94
90
55
48
61
40
20
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
16
29
30
Software registration requests (2000-2012)
25
20
15
12 10
8 6
5
6
5
13
10
9
8
7
3
4
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
14
Licenses signed (2002-2012)
13
13
12
11 10
10
10 8
7
6
4
4 2
4 1 2002
2
1 2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
17
70
63 60
52 50
43 40 30
26
26
2005
2006
33
34
2007
2008
Cumulative active licenses (2002-2012)
36
17
20 10
3
4
2002
2003
2004
2009
2010
2011
2012
R$800.000
R$700.000
Licensing Income (2005-2012)
R$600.000
R$500.000
R$400.000
R$300.000
R$200.000
R$100.000
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
18
14
Tenant resident in Incamp (2002-2012)
12
12 10
11 10 9
9
2002
2003
11 10
10
10
10 9
8 6 4 2
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
30
28
29
Companies graduated from Incamp (2005-2012)
25
20
20
19
21
17 15
11 10
9
8
5
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
60
52
51
50
47
40
30
38
39
42
30
30
28
18
20
25
22
21
19
20
17
17
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
20
10
Full-time equivalent employees Temporary employees
Total Number
Team (2007-2012)
Technology licensing cases in 2012
Dalton Arantes e Fabbryccio Cardoso
Technology minimizes the interference caused by the dispersive effect of communication channels A group of researchers of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Unicamp (FEEC) have developed a technology called “soft-concurrent process for time-domain back-propagation equalization in OFDM systems”, whose objective is to minimize the interference among symbols caused by the dispersive effect in communication medium. The research was developed by Dr. Estevan
According to the researcher, Inova Uni-
Marcelo Lopes and his advisor Professor Dalton S. Arantes and co-advisor Dr.
camp Innovation Agency had a funda-
Fabbryccio Cardoso. The technology patent was filed in 2012 when an exclusive
mental role in the processes for filing
licensing agreement was signed with Padtec. “The technology was developed
the patent and licensing. “The Agency
in a project financed by FAPESP and Padtec, under FAPESP´s Partnership for Te-
helped us in the search process to ve-
chnological Innovation Program - PITE”, explains Dalton.
rify the existence of any similar technology in the market. Then, it offered the needed support such as preparation of needed documents for the process, orientation in the minute elaboration with the information related to the requested patent, forwarding the patent application process to relevant bodies, and helping in licensing contract”, says Dalton.
22 According to the Professor, the initial proposal of the technology was to increase the rate of data transmission in wireless and optical communication systems which operate with OFDM modulation. “The technology can be used in wireless and optical coherent communication systems”, he explains. According to Roberto Nakamura, Padtec´s Director of Technology, the technology can be used to increase the capacity of equipments supplied by the company to communication networks. “The licensed technology has a potential of use in Padtec products but it does not have an immediate application yet since the market does not have enough demand for traffic. However, the technology has a great potential and can be absorbed by the market in the near future”, he ends.
About Padtec Padtec S.A. is a Brazilian company which produces optical communications systems by using DWDM technology (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) with applications in long distance communication networks, metropolitan or pier-to-pier connections of storage networks. Its mission is to supply solutions in devices, equipment, and optical communication systems which explore the optical layer potentialities; all this is supplied to the globalized market in a fast and flexible way.
Researches in optical area aim at optimizing time and reduce costs Researchers from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (FEEC) of Unicamp developed two innovative Technologies in the optical area and both were licensed in 2012 for Padtec. The protection processes and technologies licensing were assisted by Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency; it helped the researchers in formulating the patent application. “Inova Unicamp advised us about the industrial protection aspects and about the patent range as well. Then, the Agency made all contacts with Padtec in order to achieve the licensing contract”, says professor Evandro Conforti, inventor of the patent, who also received the help from Professor Cristiano Gallep (CESET-Limeira), from Dr. Napoleão Ribeiro and from the students André Cavalcante and Rafael Figueiredo. The patent of the technology “method for deleting the optical carrier, deleting device, remodulator photonic device and use of devices” was filed in 2011 and it consists in a technique capable to recover the laser signal which gets to the subscriber when the user had already received the internet information.
According to Evandro, the technology differential is the use of ultra-high semiconductor amplifying optical devices. “The technology saves the generation of a new signal which can have high costs. The invention has higher speed and efficiency in relation to existing methods by performing the deletion and remodulation of the laser signal in rates above 20 gigabytes per second”, he explains. In practice, the invention can be applied in optical networks with centralized light sources in the implementation of structure FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) – a connection of fiber until the residence. “We can perform the connection so that the channel which goes from the operator until the subscriber can be remodulated with new information and operate such a channel which goes from the subscriber until the operator”, says Evandro. So the reused channel takes return data without the need for use of additional wavelength. “The reuse doubles the capacity of a system with a fixed number of channels and eliminating the light source at the end/remote user”, he adds. On the other hand, the patent of “Method of electro-optical switch which uses multi-pulses and voltage step via optical amplifiers to semiconductor, devices for electro-optical switch of optical carriers and the use of devices” was filed in 2012 and it aims at increasing the speed of electro-optical keys which are controlled by an electrical signal that can let a light signal go through or not. “The technology differential is that when we use optical amplifiers to semiconductors, it can have times of ten thousand times smaller than conventional keys besides amplifying the signal to be switched”, he explains. According to Roberto Nakamura, director of technology in Padtec, the licensed technologies can be used in the future in the company innovative products. “The technology can contribute to increase the equipment capacity supplied by Padtec for optical access networks. In addition, during the project, we are training high level professionals who will certainly contribute to improve the capacity of Campinas region to develop technologies and products in the optical area”, he says. According to Professor Evandro, the industrial application of licensed technologies depends on several market factors but it can be considered a future reality. “The company performs technological developments and it is in test phase to integrate these keys and devices in what we call integrated photonic chips so that to reach the results”, he says. Nakamura says that as developed technologies are very innovative, the application in telecom networks is not immediate. “We need additional investments to reduce costs and then the technologies can be used commercially”, he ends.
Evandro Conforti
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Algorithmic method prevents cloning of computer devices Researchers of the Institute of Computing at Unicamp, Professor Ricardo Dahab, Dr. Roberto Gallo and MSc student Henrique Kawakami, developed an algorithmic method which creates a unique identity for each computer device where it is implemented. The patent of technology “Secure methods of identification for devices based on the data flow problem” was filed in 2012 and in the same year the method was licensed to KRYPTUS Technologies with the help of Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency. According to Professor Dahab, Inova Unicamp established an objective and clear contact channel throughout the process. “The licensing was transparent and professional. In addition, the flexibility in the negotiation was fundamental for the success since different technologies are also related to different business models”, he says. The licensed technology has a practical application and can be used in notebooks, for example. “The great breakthrough is that even when the adversary has access to the user machine he will not be able to clone the machine’s identity. That means the applications which need legitimacy guarantees such as internet banking can benefit from this method”, explains Roberto Gallo. According to Dahab, the idea for the research arose from the difficulty in assuring that the user’s computer identifier is not cloned. “We think that the ultimate definition of device uniqueness is the device in its entirety. The method can create an identifier which takes into account the whole machine and then create something which is not clonable”, he says. According to Dahab, his team foresaw a clear opportunity in which academic research could bring benefits to society, by searching for an original solution for a current and relevant problem. The algorithmic method is in the implementation phase in a big domestic bank and the company says that it is negotiating the application of the technology with other customers of the financial sector.
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
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Ricardo Dahab, Roberto Gallo and Henrique Kawakami
About KRYPTUS Founded in 2003 in Campinas, KRYPTUS develops, integrates, and implements a range of hardware solutions, firmware and software from semiconductors to complex process management systems with digital certification. The company is focused on providing solutions for Information Security. It is targeted mainly to customers who demand high levels of security and technological expertise. In the public sector, KRYPTUS solutions protect very critical systems, data and communications such as the Brazilian Public-key Infrastructure (ICP-Brasil), the Brazilian Electronic Voting Machine (Urna Eletr么nica Brasileira) and Governmental Communications.
Technology developed in Unicamp innovates the food industry The computer program known as Nitryx-MIX™, developed in Unicamp and licensed for Nitryx company in 2012, is being sold for its first customer. It is a new tool based on artificial intelligence which aims at finding the ideal formulation for products based on interesterified or hydrogenated fats. The system maximizes the nutritional performance and minimizes the production cost after defining the available raw materials. The development of this technology involved the researchers Daniel Barrera Arellano and Renato Grimaldi, from the Faculty of Food Engineering of Unicamp (FEA); Fernando Antonio Campos Gomide and Rodrigo Gonçalves, from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (FEEC); Maurício Fernandes Figueiredo, from Universidade Estadual de Maringá and Jane Mara Block, from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
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According to Gonçalves, one of the inventors of the technology and founder of the licensed company, they needed 15 years of substantiated research in MBA or PhD theses for the creation of a technology which is commercially viable. “throughout the years, the team mastered the algorithms and tested them in different operating scenarios”, he says. The first customer to use Nitryx-Mix™ is Brejeiro, a companay of the food sector which intends to take advantage of the product benefits. “Having the soybean and producing its derivatives, Brejeiro was interested in acquiring the technology to reduce the quantity of palm oil used in the production of fats”, explains Sonali de Oliveira Silva, Brejeiro spokeswoman. For João Gustavo Oreana, responsible for the lab of development and research in Bejeiro, the precisions in the fat formulas obtained by Nitryx-MIX™ enable the ideal production for each type of customer. “The reduction of saturated fatty acids, the increase of polysaturated fatty acids and the absence of transfat are some of the advantages of this product for the end consumer”. In the short run, Brejeiro aims at using the new tool and place samples to be tested on plants to customers. According to Rodrigo, the purpose is to reach the global market with the product since all Daniel Barrera Arellano and Renato Grimaldi
companies that produce raw materials and finished products based on fats are potential customers of this product.
About Nitryx Nitryx (www.nitryx.com) is a spin-off1 company of Unicamp based in Campinas. Founded by former students and researchers from Unicamp; it started by using the Artificial intelligence and Optimization to develop support systems for decision-making. Today, Nitryx consolidated this experience by providing complete solutions of support for decision-making in several areas. 1 A company is called academic spin-off when it is created and its main aim is to sell a patented technology of the university through an institutional contract of technology licensing.
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BioTest: software offers entertaining based on Biology knowledge After being contacted by Inova Unicamp, the researchers of Laboratory of Educational Technology (LTE) from the Institute of Biology stemmed the possibility to increase educational software outreach. With the new perspective, the group developed a pilot system for tablets and smartphones with iOS and Android. “We were impressed with the results”, says Professor Eduardo Galembeck. According to him, there was a parallel fact-finding about Technologies which had already been developed in the lab and with a potential to generate a technological product. “We reached BioTest by adding some components of software which we had developed and some new other ones”, Galembeck says. Eduardo Galembeck
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
The game inspired by a Hangman Game was licensed in 2012 to Takase & Dias Engenharia company and its launch is planned for 2013. “The market of applications and games for iOS and Android has grown significantly over the past years. We believe in the potential of a well-produced and amusing educational game like BioTest”, says Rodrigo Takase, partner of the company and head of the LTE apps development team. Takase emphasizes that the company is going to invest in new partnerships with the lab aiming at implementing improvements in the product, once such technology needs constant updates in order to continue in the market. As he highlights, any change can be made by LTE only. “The company is responsible for selling and marketing the product”. Game – with more than 1.6 thousand items which cover several areas of biology, BioTest came up from the concern with students struggling with biological nomenclature. “It is not rare to hear it is a justification for a lack of interest in biology due to the vocabulary associated to the area”, comments Professor Galembeck. “We looked for making this characteristic something attractive and amusing”, he says. The game allows players to challenge each other, and to compete by the top places in the game ranking. Points earned while gaming can be used to unlock new phases or even to settle virtual environments inspired in biomes deployed all over the planet. Galembeck says that BioTest is the first product of lab which is conceived to outreach. According to him, he has been involved with the development of educational softwares since 1996 when he was a PhD student at Unicamp. In 1997, the first software registration at INPI was made. The first educational games developed by the group date from 2003.
About Takase & Dias Engenharia Takase & Dias Engenharia LTDA is a small company which deals with engineering consulting, development and Software Sales. Currently, the company is formed by two partners; a mechanical engineer graduated at ITA (Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica) and a computer engineer graduated at Unicamp.
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Natural dye for the textile industry from the residue of eucalyptus exploration The patent “Process for obtaining Aqueous Extract from Eucalyptus which contains natural dyes from Renewable Source and/or Silviculture, Aqueous Extract, Composition of Natural Dye to Base of Aqueous Extract, Uses of Aqueous Extract and/or Composition of Dye, Impregnated Textile Product and its Use”, was filed in INPI for Unicamp, USP, and Stenville Têxtil, and exclusively licensed for the latter. The technology consists of dying fabrics which have a base of natural source. Professor Edison Bittencourt, from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering of Unicamp, says that until the middle of the 19th century, just natural dyes were used in dying fabrics. “The innovation refers to the development of applications from typical natural Brazilian sources or which result, for example, from the use of wood”, explains Bittencourt. The Professor emphasizes that the option for eucalyptus is due to the interest in profiting the excess of exploration of this species resulting from traditional activities in wood industry as a source of fibers for paper production. The reuse of the industrial residue and the reduction of pollution in fabrics industry effluents, due to natural characteristics, are among the benefits of the technology. These advantages are aligned to strategy of Stenville which has maintained intense concern since 2006 with environmental issues and sustainable ways of production. According to the director of the company, George Tomic, the expectation is that selling the fabrics with natural dye will actually start in mid-2013. “We are investing a lot nowadays in marketing”, adds Tomic. The director informs that the campaign motto is “Sustainability in Practice” and it has other product lines and developed projects focused on environment conservation and recovery. The research authors, besides Professor Bittencourt, are Professor José Otávio Brito and the researchers Raquel Silveira Ramos Almeida and Ticiane Rossi, all of them from Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, of Universidade de São Paulo. “This interaction with ESALQ started as a result of an extension which was offered by Unicamp in the area of dyes and colorimetry” says the Professor from FEQ.
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
About Stenville TĂŞxtil Stenville TĂŞxtil is based in JundiaĂ (SP) and it deals with processing, printing, dyeing and selling fabrics. Becoming the leader of differentiated fabrics segment is the main purpose of the company which invests in 100% recycled fibers, natural dyes and fabric softeners as well as in intelligent fibers and organic fibers.
Edison Bittencourt
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Fernando A. Sigoli and Italo Odono Mazali
Nanoparticles of silica improve the agrochemicals activity A new process to obtain silica-based nanoproducts was developed by a group of researchers from the Institute of Chemistry (IQ) of Unicamp and it was licensed in 2012 to Ihara, a company in the agro-chemical sector. The process consists in the synthesis of silica nanoparticles from sodium silicate and it has a direct application in agriculture sector because if they are incorporated to pesticides, such nanoparticles enable the controlled release of active ingredients in order to extend its time of action and reduce the toxicity. The research involved two professors from The Institute of Chemistry – Professor Italo Odone Mazali and Professor Fernando A. Sigoli – and the student Tábita Cristina Beline, whose thesis was defended in October 2012. The patent application for the technology and the licensing contract occurred with the direct help of Unicamp’s Innovation Agency, says Professor Sigoli: “Inova Unicamp helped us since the beginning of the process and has been supporting us in decisive and primordial ways. All actions of Inova in different phases of the process (partnership elaboration and licensing transactions) were fundamental, especially in relation to legality and interests of both sides”.
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
According to the Professor, the research partnership started when the company noticed the potentiality of exposed technology and consequently got interested by the process development and by possible industrial applications of technology. Then, a new synthetic route was developed during Tåbita’s master studies aiming at its adaptation to industrial scale. Thus, only raw materials available in the Brazilian industrial sector were used. The developed process provided stable silica nanoparticles in aqueous solution without the use of surface modification agents by using an industrially viable process. These nanoparticles which contain copper ions (II) showed in initial lab tests, done in Unicamp, bactericides properties against some agents found in agriculture. Currently, the company is searching the needed authorizations in federal bodies to start the tests required by the sector.
About Ihara The company was founded in 1965 as a result of the association between Brazilian and Japanese businessmen. Its main objective is to offer more modern, productive and profitable agriculture techniques for the country. At present, it has more than 60 products targeted for most cultures and also for controlling the domestic pests. Ihara produces fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, nutrients, special products, household sanitizing products and fumigants and it offers its services so that to help the rural producer to obtain the best productivity with higher quality sustainably.
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New variety of Stevia favors a production chain in agriculture In 2012, Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency performed the first licensing of a cultivar of Unicamp. We are speaking about Stevia cultivar CBQBA T6, result of a research developed by the researchers Marcos Nopper Alves and Ilio Montanari Júnior, from Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas, Biológicas e Agrícolas (CPQBA) of Unicamp. The cultivar protection application was placed in 2012 at the National Service for Cultivar Protection (SNPC), of the Ministry of Agriculture, Cattle and Supply (MAPA).
Ilio Montanari Jr.
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
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In the same year, the cultivar was licensed for the company “SBW do Brasil” with the help of Inova Unicamp. “The Agency helped with the
Debiasi explains that the interest in the cultivar came up due to the compa-
documents in MAPA”, said professor
ny’s demands for Stevia seedlings and the fact that the company has poten-
Ilio. According to Clayton Debiasi, di-
tial customers interested in cultivating this species. “Having a prior contact
rector of research and development
with Professor Nopper, I asked him about this species that he confirmed hav-
(R&D) of SBW, the Agency provided
ing it in the collection. In addition, the Professor had a genetic improvement
all orientation to protect the cultivar.
work based on mass selection which interested us”, he said. Then, the com-
“Inova gave the support so that the
pany set up a partnership with the researchers of CBQBA to improve the use
documents could be prepared prop-
of these materials. According to Professor Ilio, the technique to develop a
erly”. For the director, the Agency
cultivar – called genetic improvement – is used nowadays. “Our intention was
Team was very helpful in meeting the
to create a cultivar which may become an agriculture option and favor the pro-
terms. “The help was outstanding
duction chain so that the transformation industry which transforms the raw
since the beginning of the process till
material in a finished product can count on a regular and standardized supply
its closing, signing and forwarding
and in the demanded quantity”, he explains.
the contracts”, he added. For Debiasi, the perspectives for the use of technology are positive. “We are working on first productions to start selling the produced seedlings from Stevia mother plant CPQBA T6”. The director says that the company’s aim is that the end product resulting from the production line ensures the best product available and registered in terms of Stevia”. The director of SBW do Brasil highlights that the contact with Unicamp, a university of excellence in research and innovation, was a decisive factor in choosing the partnership university-company. “We believe that narrowing the technical and business links in a partnership with renowned entities such as Unicamp will bring us more support in the market and it offers us several opportunities for expanding our businesses”, he added.
About SBW do Brasil Based in Holambra (SP), SBW do Brasil is a company which is a leader in the sector of biofactory of plants. Its main activity is the production and sale of in-vitro micropropagated plantlets through biotechnological methods of plant tissue culture. The company’s mission is to lead the national sector of production and sale of micropropagated plantlets in order to continue contributing towards the Brazilian agribusiness so that to continue its technological expansion, grow and be differentiated in the worldwide background.
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Photometer for fuel analysis brings advantages to distributor and consumers Researchers of the Chemistry Institute (IQ) of Unicamp developed a photometer for fuel analysis which is a technology that determines the content of ethanol in ethanol fuel and gasoline. The research has been done by professor Jarbas Rohwedder and colaborators, professor Celio Pasquini and professor Ivo Milton Raimundo Junior and Ismael Pereira Chagas, PhD student. The final product was the result of a technology developed at Unicamp and Tech Chrom, a company graduated from Unicamp Technology-based Business Incubator (Incamp).
Ismael Pereira Chagas
The launch of the product was in June 2012 and the photometer can already be acquired by owners of gas stations. According to Valter Matos, director of Tech Chrom, “the technology works in near infrared region and it was developed for detecting the adulteration in liquid fuels by determining the content of alcohol in alcohol fuel and the content of anhydrous ethylic alcohol fuel in gasoline”. Besides not generating a residue, the photometer displays the
The photometer brings advantages to gas stations owners as it offers the op-
result directly on the device screen in
portunity to analyze two types of fuel in just one device rapidly, safely and with-
less than one minute. “We can rapidly
out generating residue. Through this analysis, the dealer protects himself by
analyze the fuel with the photometer.
avoiding fines and the consumer avoids losses and damages resulting from the
It means that we can identify adultera-
purchase of adulterated fuel. The technology avoids also selling ethanol at the
tions in the product immediately and
same price of gasoline or the addition of high quantity of water in ethanol. The
collect a sample of a counter-proof for
device helps also the consumer since the test can be done fast in front of him
a complete analysis in a lab”, explains
and the result is clear and direct without any need for a conversion table which
the director.
usually confuses the user. During incubation, Tech Chrom developed a specific analytical instrumentation. “The incubation in Incamp offered us a direct contact with professors and specialists of diverse areas of knowledge of Unicamp due to a partnership with the university”, affirms the director of Tech Chrom. Despite the equipment has been put on the market, the technology has some commercial challenges to make the product more successful. The director of Tech Chrom believes the work from Inova Unicamp was essential for the interaction between Unicamp and Tech Chrom. “The Agency work in licensing the technology and later in disseminating it was fundamental for launching the product in the market”, he ends.
About Tech Chrom Founded in 2002, the company started its activities in the Unicamp Technology-based Business Incubator (Incamp). Tech Chrom mission is to research, develop, and sell products and innovative solutions which make its customers increase the efficiency, productivity, and quality of its activities.
Cristiano Akamine and Yuzo Iano
Digital TV benefits from Unicamp-developed technology Brazil adopted in 2006 a digital TV system based on Japanese technology. That was the motivation to start a research in Unicamp which led to an innovative technology development called “Re-multiplication of signals ISDB-T for television signals distribution by using DVB standard�. With the help of Unicamp’s Innovation Agency, the patent application was filed in INPI in June 2010 and the technology was licensed in 2012 for Tecsys which works in the sector of receiving, processing and transmitting digital TV. The licensed technology has two characteristics which benefit the transmission of digital signal in Brazil: the first is that it enables the transmission of terrestrial signals of the Brazilian System of Digital TV (ISDB-TB) in distribution networks of satellite, microwaves and fiber optics by using radio-diffusion and telecommunication equipment used in the country. The second is that it compacts the information and enables the distribution of signals to different transmitters (single frequency network), resulting in an increase of the coverage area of digital TV.
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
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According to Professor Yuzo Iano, from the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC) in Unicamp, it would not be possible to use most of equipment in broadcasting and telecommunication without this technology. “As the transmission layer of the Brazilian system is based on Japanese system of digital TV, most of Brazilian broadcasting and telecommunications pieces of equipment were not able to be used. Thus, we are working on a solution which can make these pieces of equipment compatible with ISDB-TB Digital broadcast technology” said Yuzo. Besides Professor Yuzo, other researchers make part of inventors’ team such as Cristiano Akamine, Ana Lúcia Mendes Cruz Silvestre da Silva and Fernando Silvestre da Silva; all of them are former graduation students in FEEC. Rodolfo Vidal, director of technology of Tecsys, explains that the subject of BTS compression, i.e. the conversion to DVB standard which enables the distribution via satellite, was a theme of several discussions in the Brazilian Digital TV forum. According to him, the company was interested in the technology because it considered the compression process standardization necessary for a common methodology for all manufacturers. “The market trend was the adoption of an open standard, therefore we started contacting the researchers and arrived at Unicamp for licensing the patent”, he said. Among the technology benefits, he emphasizes that in addition of being a well-defined and coherent process from technology point of view, the main benefit is to ensure the interoperability of equipment that adopts the same technology.
About Tecsys Tecsys is a Brazilian company which manufactures professional equipment for receiving, processing, contribution and signals distribution of audio, video, analog or digital data. Tecsys products are present in the main TV stations, cable TV operators all over Brazil; they are known for their quality, reliability, and performance. Currently, around 100 collaborators work directly in research, development and equipment production in São José dos Campos plant and 5 collaborators work in Israel unit – recently acquired and intended to serve the worldwide markets. Its products are currently exported to Argentina, Peru, Africa, China, India, and The Philippines among others; this proves the industrial and technological capability of the Brazilian engineering.
Technology increases the efficiency in preparing samples for chemical analyses
Susanne Rath and Ricardo Mathias
Solid phase extraction is a technique for preparing samples in chemical analyses and the technology developed in the Laboratório de Bioanalítica Paracelsus of the Institute of Chemistry of Unicamp, results in a higher efficiency of this process as it enables a high precision in flow control. “This technology can be used for preparing samples in chemical analyses which use instrumental meth-
“It is a device composed of a cham-
ods especially chromatographic methods (physical-chemical separation meth-
ber, valves, and vacuum pump or
od)”, says Professor Susanne Rath.
peristaltic pump”, says Susanne and emphasizes that this is one of the
As the samples of food, biological fluids among others show several elements
differentials of this technology. “The
(the analysis focus is called analyte), it is necessary to eliminate these interfer-
differential is that our device can be
ing elements and concentrate the analytes which are object of the analysis. To
coupled either to a vacuum pump,
meet this need, commonly solid phase extraction is used, and in this stage the
commonly used with presents low
licensed technology for Eciambarella is used.
precision in flow control or to a peristaltic pump which confers high precision in flow control”, she adds.
About Eciambarella
The technology represents the fourth generation of a device which has been developed since 2008 in the Labora-
Eciambarella Ltda. is a company targeted to Molecular Biology, Cellular
tory and it was developed by the re-
Culture and Immunology. Its head office is in São Paulo city with a work-
searcher Ricardo Mathias Orlando,
force of 25 professionals who work in the commercial, production and re-
PhD student in that time.
search areas.
Inova Unicamp Annual Review 2012
41
According to the researchers, the idea came up with the difficulty they had to control the flow during procedures of solid phase extractions using vacuum pumps. The result motivated the researchers as the work produced a differentiated product easy to produce with advantages in relation to the one commercially available.
Polarimeter based on laser and without mobile parts reduces the time of analysis and enables the use of colored samples
The Professor stressed that the group
Researches of the Chemistry Institute (IQ) developed a polarimeter (equipment
has six filed patents. “All filed patents
used to perform measurements employing polarized light) which shows innova-
are related to solid phase extraction.
tive characteristics and results in several benefits such as the possibility to use
Inova played an important role to es-
colored samples, resulting in smaller impact to environment due to simplifica-
tablish the patent draft, as well as in
tion of the clarification process. Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency filed the pat-
the licensing process once the com-
ent application and the technology was licensed for Eciambarella in 2012.
pany interested in selling the device was identified by professionals of the
As Professor Celio Pasquini explains, one of the main items of innovation in
technology transfer area of Inova”,
the instrument refers to the use of a low cost continuous laser and a birefrin-
Susanne concludes.
gent crystal which enables its design without any mobile parts. The result is an instrument which is different for its excellent robustness, durability, and performance. “The most common use of this type of instrument, and perhaps the most relevant for Brazil, is found in the determination of sucrose content (sugar) in sugarcane juice’, says Pasquini; he adds that the pharmaceutical sector uses intensively this type of instrument to determine the purity of certain active ingredients for drugs.
Celio Pasquini
42 According to Professor Pasquini, the group of researchers, which involved Professor Jarbas José Rodrigues Rohwedder, also from the Chemistry Institute, and two students, one of them is PhD, Lívia Paulia Dias Ribeiro, and the other is an undergraduate research student, Matheus Angeluzzi Jardim, has been very optimistic since the start of project, regarding its targeted results. “This expectation was confirmed through the installation of a bench prototype for Embrapa Milho e Sorgo unit (MG) under the responsibility of the researcher Dr. Maria Lúcia Ferreira Simione, whose group started to use the polarimeter to determine sucrose in sorghum syrup”, says Pasquini, and he explains that sorghum has been evaluated as a substitute of sugarcane in the production of combustible bioethanol with a better use in sugarcane intercropping. “This fact ensured the robustness of the new instrument and added value to the technology in the licensing contract (with Eciambarella) which could be negotiated in more favorable conditions”, analyzes Pasquini. The director of the company Ernestino Ciambarella affirms that their expectation is to produce a commercial prototype within 12 months. “We only have to polish this project, transform the instrument in a commercial version, start the marketing project, and set up the sales strategy ”, the director summarizes.
An electrode detects oxygen in water without producing a residue The good results of a research done during the master degree of Lucas Samuel Soares dos Santos whose advisor was Professor Yoshitaka Gushikem, from the Chemistry Institute of Unicamp made the researchers go after technology protection via a patent called “Electro-chemical sensor based on ceramic carbon material for determining the dissolved oxygen and the process for obtaining it”. According to Professor Gushikem, the researchers did not have in the beginning any notion about the possibilities for selling the technology. “We did not know whether any company would be interested in selling it”, he said. The patent was filed in 2010 with the support of Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency. Inova also helped in licensing the technology for Eciambarella in 2012. The company was interested in the technology because of its differential since the invention verifies the dissolved oxygen quantity without generating any type of residue. According to Professor Gushikem, this verification is performed nowadays with a type of electrode which requires the use of a selective membrane for oxygen in order to avoid the interference of other chemical species which are usually present in natural waters”. Another characteristics of the commercial electrode is that it produces peroxide during the process; “peroxide is a highly oxidant substance which can be harmful for some organisms”, he adds.
Yoshitaka Gushikem
Without this membrane, the electrode developed in the research generates just water during the analysis process. As he explains, the synthesized material is composed of mixed oxide, called SiO2/MxOy, and it contains an electroactive species MPc (metallic phthalocyanine) mixed with graphite carbon homogeneously. “This characteristics gives the electrical conductivity which is needed to perform the measurement”, says Gushikem. “The material is employed in a hard disc which enables its use as an electrode of a very long useful life”, he continues and he also highlights another characteristics of the technology. Ernestino Ciambarella, director of the company, says that the contact with Inova Unicamp was important because it enabled us to know technologies developed from researches done in the University. They were three technologies licensed by the Institute of Chemistry. According to Ciambarella, this interaction university-company enables the development and application of new technologies efficiently and safely. In addition, Ciambarella says that the contact with high qualification of teachers and students of Unicamp and with the technology of Unicamp was a factor of reliability. “I understand that being involved with people who know what they do with a university, we motivate to search technologies and participate in the process by contributing with what we already know to do which is manufacturing and trading’, he adds. “I like exploring the possibilities I have and to involve myself with projects and domestic production”, he ends.
Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency Roxo Moreira Street, 1871, Postal Code 6131 13083-592 Campinas, SP Brazil www.inova.unicamp.br