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CU project greases the wheels of high-tech processes
Mar 19th
Ultracold matter technology from CU and SRI
International licensed to Boulder’s ColdQuanta
International licensed to Boulder’s ColdQuanta
ColdQuanta Inc. of Boulder and the University of Colorado have finalized an agreement allowing ColdQuanta to commercialize cutting-edge physics research developed by CU-Boulder and SRI International. The licensed technology centers on Bose-Einstein Condensate, or BEC, a new form of matter created just above absolute zero.
Ultracold matter such as BEC can be used to dramatically increase the performance of devices such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, gravimeters and magnetometers because of its strong interaction with gravity and magnetic fields as compared with laser-based devices. BEC also has potential applications in a wide range of research and commercial settings, ranging from atomic clocks to improved navigation of submarines and spacecraft, and even quantum computing.
“We are delighted that this license agreement has been finalized,” said ColdQuanta CEO Rainer Kunz. “It’s a great example of the university’s strong support for commercializing BEC and cold atom technology born out of CU and SRI International, and will ultimately boost advances in the ultracold applications field.”
“Cold atom research has great potential for fields such as instrumentation and cryptography,” added Chris Lantman, senior director of business development at SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif. “We are pleased that ColdQuanta will commercialize this important technology and look forward to new applications of our physics R&D.”
Initially theorized by Satyendra Bose and Albert Einstein in the 1920s, BEC was achieved for the first time at JILA — a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology — by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman, who received a Nobel Prize in 2001 for their work. ColdQuanta was founded in 2007 to commercialize work by CU-Boulder physics professor and JILA Fellow Dana Anderson to develop streamlined devices for BEC experiments.
“Startup companies like ColdQuanta play a pivotal part in the transition of an entirely new scientific domain into the realm of practical applications,” said Anderson. “By now we have come full circle, so that they contribute to our scientific progress here at CU as much as our academic research advances their R&D progress.”
“We’re glad to see this forward-looking technology achieve commercial penetration, in addition to the strong academic interest,” added Ted Weverka, a licensing manager at CU. “ColdQuanta is just the adventurous company to make this happen.”
After optioning the technology in 2007, ColdQuanta received a $100,000 Proof of Concept investment from the CU Technology Transfer Office to help bring it to market. Since then, the company has been awarded contracts from the Army, Navy, NASA and the National Science Foundation, which have helped expand its array of products and core competencies beyond ultra-high vacuum, or UHV, design and opto-mechanical and atom chip design, to include UHV processing, systems controls, and diverse glass and silicon bonding expertise. The company sells to research labs and industry nationally and overseas. The company also has partnered with CU-Boulder and SRI International to provide critical UHV components for a major quantum computing project led by the University of Wisconsin.
The CU Technology Transfer Office, or TTO, pursues, protects, packages, and licenses to business the intellectual property generated from research at CU. The TTO provides assistance to faculty, staff and students, as well as to businesses looking to license or invest in CU technology. For more information about technology transfer at CU visit http://www.cu.edu/techtransfer.
ColdQuanta focuses on the development of BEC and cold atom generating devices and systems, allowing them to be accessible to a wide range of research, educational, and industrial institutions. Its products are intended for use in scientific and industrial applications requiring high performance and reliability. ColdQuanta’s products now include the miniMOT range developed for educational institutes and researchers working on cold atoms as well as the RuBECi designed for BEC and ultracold atom labs. The company also provides custom engineering solutions to the cold atom and ultracold atom community. For more information visit http://www.coldquanta.com.
Silicon Valley-based SRI International, a nonprofit research and development organization, performs sponsored R&D for governments, businesses and foundations. SRI brings its innovations to the marketplace through technology licensing, new products, and spinoff ventures. SRI is known for world-changing innovations in computing, health and pharmaceuticals, chemistry and materials, sensing, energy, education, national defense and more. For more information visit http://www.sri.com/.
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New CU J-school is getting ready for the (digital) revolution
Feb 20th
CU-Boulder symposium explores digital media impact on politics, journalism and historical preservation A University of Colorado Boulder symposium Feb. 27-29 will examine how the revolution in digital media is changing global politics, journalism and the way history is preserved. Journalism and Mass Communication at CU-Boulder is sponsoring “The Content and Context of Digital Culture” symposium, which is free and open to the public. It will be held at various sites across campus and a complete schedule is available at http://www.icjmtsymposium.org/schedule/.
“This symposium provides the CU community with an excellent opportunity to explore new political and cultural terrain opened up by digital media,” said symposium organizer Andrew Calabrese, a professor of journalism and mass communication. Among the speakers will be Columbia University Professor Todd Gitlin, who will present “Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street: Why 2011 Was Not 1968” on Feb. 27 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in room 150 of the Eaton Humanities Building. Gitlin’s upcoming e-book, “Occupy Nation: The Roots, the Spirit and the Promise of Occupy Wall Street,” looks at how that movement differs from the uprisings of previous eras. Mark Briggs, who coined the term “Journalism 2.0,” will talk about a new breed of ‘journopreneurs’ who are launching startups that break from traditional advertising models to find new sources of revenue for delivering news and information. Briggs is the director of digital media for KING-5 TV in Seattle and the Ford Fellow in Entrepreneurial Journalism at the Poynter Institute. His session is on Feb. 29 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in room 150 of the Eaton Humanities Building. 
Experts at the conference also will discuss new ways of archiving digital records and how these collections are being used in places such as libraries and museums. Librarians and archivists are looking for new ways to preserve such records, according to symposium organizers. The symposium runs in conjunction with an effort to create a new interdisciplinary school or college at CU-Boulder that may include studies in communication, technology, multimedia storytelling, commercial design and the digital arts and humanities. The effort is called the Information, Communication, Journalism, Media and Technology, or ICJMT, initiative. Journalism and Mass Communication is sponsoring the symposium in support of the ICJMT initiative, with additional support from CU’s Keller Center for the Study of the First Amendment, the Department of Political Science, the English department, the Film Studies Program, the Center for the Humanities and the Arts, CU Libraries and the Advertising A2B certificate program. For more information including speakers and event locations visit http://www.icjmtsymposium.org/.
High-tech, energy saving Boulder company is booming
Feb 8th
Albeo Technologies LED Revenues Climb 50% in 2011, With Solid-State Lighting Retrofits up 300%
Albeo’s High Bay LED Lights provide up to 95% energy savings compared to fluorescent or metal halide (HID)
BOULDER, CO — February 6, 2012 — Albeo Technologies, a leader in solid-state industrial and commercial lighting solutions, announced today significant sales growth in 2011, making it the company’s most profitable year to date. Total company revenue increased 50 percent from 2010 and sales for retrofit and renovation grew 300 percent. All in all, Albeo shipped 26,675 fixtures in 2011 and added 10 new engineering jobs.
Albeo LED fixtures currently light over 7 million square feet of space, the equivalent of 121 American football fields. Much of Albeo’s success in 2011 comes from the company’s ability to offer a wide range of LED lighting solutions that are flexible enough to shine the exact right amount of light in variety of applications. Albeo LED Lighting systems are cost-effective, energy efficient and feature ROI as short as one year. Strong markets for Albeo in 2011, included Fortune 500 data centers, cold storage facilities, parking structures, schools and large manufacturing facilities.
“We are thrilled to be demonstrating such strong and continued growth,” said Jeff Bisberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Albeo Technologies. “Few cleantech startups are growing exponentially. In 2011, our 50% increase in revenues resulted in 10 new “green jobs” in engineering and we expect continued job creation in 2012. We have been profitable for two years now and are grateful to all of our customers who are supporting our success.”
The popularity of Albeo products comes from the ability to fully customize each LED fixture before and after installation. Such modular innovations help architects, facility managers and lighting designers to maximize both energy savings and functionality, while minimizing lighting maintenance costs. In addition, Albeo’s motion sensors and other power saving controls help facilities reduce lighting energy use up to 95%. The average return on investment (ROI) for Albeo products is one to three years. The spectrum of Albeo products range from high bay, low bay and surface mount fixtures, to display cabinets and task lighting.
ABOUT ALBEO TECHNOLOGIES
Albeo Technologies is a leading LED Lighting manufacturer for industrial and commercial buildings, such as cold storage, data centers, retail, schools and businesses. The Albeo products range from high bay and low bay solutions, to linear, surface mount and under cabinet fixtures. The company has lit over 7 million square-feet of space to date and have won 14 independently-judged awards, including 5 from the US Department of Energy (DOE). Albeo’s fully customizable, reliable and low-maintenance LED lighting products offer energy savings up to 95% and an ROI of 1-3 years. For more information, go to www.albeotech.com.
