WKU
ORED
 
CONNECTING KNOWLEDGE WITH BUSINESSES AND SOCIETY TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE
 
ORED Quarterly Newsletter: December 2008, Volume 2, Issue 3
 
  Workshops Research   Grant Awards   Provost's Recognition Awards Technology Transfer

Small Business Development Center

  
 
Workshops

 

OSP and OTT offer a series of workshops on proposal and budget development, grant award administration, compliance issues related to grants, intellectual property protection, patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, and the  technology transfer process. All workshops are offered free-of-charge to faculty and staff. To learn more about upcoming workshops, please click here to see the list of past workshops.

 

Student Business Plan Competition

The Office of Research & Economic Development conducted a student business plan competition during November 2008. Students from all disciplines and colleges were invited to attend three workshops on:

Entrepreneurship: An American Dream for Financial Freedom
Business Plan for the American Dream
Raising Capital for the American Dream

The students were educated on business start-up considerations, intellectual property protection strategies, business plan development and sources of funding to finance the business and strategies to raise finding for their businesses. At the conclusion of the workshop series two rounds of competitions were held. For the first round students submitted a business concept application. Four finalists were selected to move to the final round of the competition. The finalists submitted full business plans on their business ideas and will be making closed door Power Point presentations on their business plans to the judges. The winner will be eligible to receive $3,000 for feasibility study and for developing a prototype; students will be allowed access to facilities at WKU and guidance in taking their ideas forward for business launch.

This workshop series was offered by the Office of Research & Economic Development in partnership with the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the award money is made available through a generous support from the WKU Research Foundation, Inc.

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Research
39th Annual Student Research Conference
       

Please make plans to attend and participate in the 39th Annual WKU Student Research Conference

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Carroll Knicely Conference Center

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Please encourage students to submit abstracts (150 words) by clicking HERE. The deadline for submitting abstracts is Saturday, January 31, 2009.

The conference is organized by the WKU Student Research Council and Sigma Xi, with generous support from the Office of the Provost.

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TopSCHOLAR™

TopSCHOLAR™ is WKU’s repository of intellectual efforts, as well as a publishing platform. After 15 months, there are nearly 1,100 documents, over 13,000 downloads, and high visibility in Google Scholar. Contributors to TopSCHOLAR™receive monthly reports tracking downloaded content as one measure of reader interest or access. Consider TopSCHOLAR™ for conference proceedings, working papers, presentations, and any other opportunity to increase visibility, preserve content, and open access to your research and creative activity. The TopSCHOLAR™ link is digitalcommons.wku.edu; call Connie Foster, 745-6151 for more information.

 

        
               
 

Grant Awards
 
       

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Julia Roberts, Director of the Center for Gifted Studies has been awarded a $2 milltion grant by the US Department of Education for project GEMS (Gifted Education in Math and Science).

This project will target children from low-income backgrounds and minorities who are underrepresented in STEM disciplines. The project GEMS will be a partnership between the Center for Gifted Studies at College of Education and Behavioral Science, and Ogden College of Science and Engineering, both at Western Kentucky Univeristy, and the Warren County Schools in Bowling Green, KY. The project GEMS will provide services at four elementary schools in Warren County including North Warren, Bristow, Cumberland Trace, and Lost River. Seventy teachers will receive professional development in problem-based learning and gifted education. The project GEMS research results will also be used to develop services and programs that are based on developing curriculum for identifying advanced abilities among elementary students, and encouraging children who are advanced in STEM disciplines, with the ultimate goal to replicate the successful program in the district, the state, and beyond. Congratulations Dr. Roberts!

 

        
               
 
 
Provost's Recognition Awards
       

The WKU faculty members, staff, colleges, departments, centers and institutes play an important role in creating opportunities for our students to gain the hands-on applied research as well as public service experience. These opportunities are created through a collaborative and collective effort on the part of various team members by seeking and acquiring external funding. On behalf of the Provost, we are very pleased to announce the “Provost's Recognition Awards." At the Recognition Award Ceremony, the following colleagues were recognized for their efforts in various categories.  Thank you for your efforts to create additional opportunities for hands-on experience for our students and also supporting the WKU’s public service mission.

Award Recipients

 

Most Prolific Proposer:

Tie between Dr. Andrew Ernest, the Associate Dean in the Ogden College of Science & Engineering and is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering submitted seven proposals for $2,287,332.00 to support the Center for Water Resource Studies and Dr. Wei-Ping Pan, the Director of Institute for Combustion Science & Environmental Technology (ICSET) submitted seven proposals for $4,634,560.00 to support ICSET.

Most Prolific Junior Proposers:

Dr. Hasan Palandoken, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and submitted five proposals for external funding during fiscal year 2008.

Administrative Support Award:

Rita Isenberg, Business Manager for Educational Telecommunications

First Time Grant Awardees at WKU:

Ms. Karla Andrew, Project Specialist in the Water Resource Center.

Dr. Eileen Arnold, Instructor in the Social Work department.

Dr. Chin-Min Cheng, Emission Control Lab Manager at the Institute of Combustion Science and Environment Technology (ICSET).

Dr. Wil Clouse, Professor of Management and Executive Director of the WKU Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Dr. Emam Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Computer Science.
 
Dr. David Keeling, Geography and Geology Department Head.

Dr. Betsy Kitchens, Program Consultant for Special Instructional Programs.

Dr. Bruce Larson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Education and Recreation.

Ms. Alonda Massey, General Manager for Transit in the Parking and Transportation Department.

Dr. Carrie Pritchard, Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department.

Dr. Jonathan Quiton, Assistant Professor in the Mathematics Department.

Mr. Buddy Steen, Executive Director for WKU’s Center for Research and Development.

Dr. Travis Wilson, Assistant Professor in the Consumer and Family Sciences Department.

Dr. Yan Bangbo, Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department.

Dr. Rui Zhang, Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department.

Dr. Jennifer Montgomery, Assistant Professor in the Special Instructional Programs Department.

First Time Co-PI Award:

Dr. Greg Arbuckle, Assistant Professor in the Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences Department. 

Dr. Barry Brunson, Professor in the Mathematics Department.

Dr. Scott Dobler, Instructor in the Geology and Geography Department.

Ms. Susan Miller, Special Instructional Programs Department.

Recipient of the Largest Award:

Dr. Blaine Ferrell is the Dean of Ogden College of Science & Engineering and a Professor in the Department of Biology.  Dr. Ferrell brought in $1,436,459.00 in equipment acquisition for the Science, Technology, and Engineering Facility.

The First Ten Million Dollar Club Inductee:

Ms. Colleen Mendell, Executive Director of Training & Technical Assistance Services has reached over 10 million dollars in competitive extramural funding over the last five years at WKU.

Million Dollar Club Inductees:

Dr. David Coffey is Director of Educational Enhancement Programs, which include five TRIO programs and WKU’s Student Disability Services.

Dr. Karen Hackney is Director of the Kentucky Space Grant Consortium and the Kentucky NASA EPSCoR Program. She is also a Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy.

Dr. Jack Hanes is Director of Educational Telecommunications, which is responsible for the operation of Western’s Public Radio, WKYU-PBS, The Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network, The university’s two CATV systems, and the International Journalism and Media Management Training Program.

Mr. Rick Horn retired from WKU on October 31, 2008 after 26 years with WKU.  He served as the Director of the Small Business Development Center and worked to bring in funds to support the Center. 

Ms. Martha Sales is the Director of the Talent Search program, a federally funded TRIO program which identifies and assists individuals who have the potential to succeed in higher education.

Highest Percentage Increase in Industrially Sponsored Contract Dollars:

Dr. Wei-Ping Pan, Director of ICSET (Institute for Combustion Science & Environmental Technology)

The Most Grant Dollar Awards by Department:

Department Head Award: Dr. Keith Andrew

Under the direction of Dr. Keith Andrew, the Department of Physics & Astronomy brought in $2,316,930.00 in extramural funding to support a variety of research within his department.

College Awards:

Largest Cumulative Awards for FY08:

  Ogden College of Science & Engineering, Dean Blaine Ferrell, faculty and staff in the Ogden College of Science & Engineering brought in $7,175,584.30 in extramural funding to support research, instruction and public service activities at the university and the community.

Grant Dollar Awards Growth by College:

Gordon Ford College of Business (Dean William Tallon) saw the greatest percentage increase in extramural funds. The Gordon Ford College of Business showed the most increase in grant dollars for research, instructional activities and public service in FY08 than in FY07 (from $40,000 in FY07 to $400,000 in FY08).

 

        
               
                 
 
Technology Transfer Notes & Notables
 

The Office of Technology Transfer
       

 

Confidentiality Agreements: When and Why Do We Need These Agreements

Confidentiality agreements are also referred to as non-disclosure agreements. Often times, prior to the grant of a patent, it may be necessary to share information regarding an invention with other parties. Alternatively, the other party may share their proprietary information with us for a collaborative research project. The intent of these agreements is to define the intellectual property ownership rights, the rights and obligations of both parties to keep the strategic information exchange confidential. The intellectual property can be an invention, which may be the subject of a patent application, or know-how for a process, or any other information that is critical to the success of the business or the operation. From a researcher's perspective, if the information is shared with other parties prior to filing the patent application, it will constitute public disclosure. Therefore, information becomes part of the public domain; consequently, the inventor is instantaneously barred from patent rights in most countries in the world. Furthermore, the other party can use the information without any compensation to the inventor. It is therefore necessary to use confidentiality agreements to protect both parties for any information that they may exchange. Generally, the safeguards necessary against the use and further dissemination of information and the time period for confidentiality are agreed upon. At universities, often times early stage discoveries are shared with potential licenses prior to filing a patent application, thus the technology is protected through a confidentiality agreement. If you have a technology that needs to be brought to the attention of an external business, no matter how well you know the players, call us so that we may guide you if a confidentiality agreement is necessary.

You may visit the ORED website at http://ored.wku.edu/ under the Office of Technology Transfer and Industry Relations to learn more about the various aspects of technology transfer. If you have questions related to your project, you can contact the Office of Technology Transfer and Industry Relations at 270-745-6733.

 

        
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Small Business Development Center
       

Mr. Rick Horn has served as the director of the WKU SBDC for the last 26 years, and helped regional entrepreneurs to launch successful businesses to support the regional economy. Several of these businesses have grown to be very successful, and they have also been recognized by the Kentucky State as the fastest growing businesses. After a successful career, and dedicated service to the region, Mr. Horn retired on October 31, 2008. We appreciate his dedication in building a very successful SBDC program, and the program has been recognized by several statewide recognition awards.

We are pleased to announce that effective November 12, 2008 Mr. Adam Brownlee will be joining the WKU SBDC as the new director. Mr. Brownlee is a graduate of WKU's Business program with a concentration in Financial Management. He has been working at Camping World in various roles, from forecasting to business intelligence, and prior to that, in operation of the family business. Welcome to the WKU family, Adam!

 

        
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Contact information:

ORED: 270-745-6733
OSP: 270-745-4652
SDBC: 270-745-1905
WKU Center For R & D: 270-901-3490
 
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