UofSC ranks top 100 globally for utility patents
Health sciences, Engineering and Computing obtain numerous patents
Posted on: June 26, 2020; Updated on: June 26, 2020
By Tenell Felder, tenell@mailbox.sc.edu
The University of South Carolina was ranked in the top 100 universities worldwide for U.S. utility patents in 2019 by the National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners.
“For the eighth year running, UofSC researchers have once again affirmed the university’s place as a world leader in achieving utility patents,” says Bill Kirkland, executive director of the Office of Economic Engagement.
The UofSC College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), School of Medicine Columbia, College of Arts and Sciences and Arnold School of Public Health all obtained utility patents, with CEC obtaining nearly half of the total number of patents issued.
Patent topics include Alzheimer’s disease and cancer treatment, renewable clean energy and ultrasound technology.
By competing for and winning additional research funding year after year, our students, faculty and researchers help drive innovation by producing valuable findings
- Bill Kirkland, executive director of the Office of Economic Engagement
CEC mechanical engineering professor Fanglin Chen is lead inventor on two utility patents aiming to maximize renewable clean energy use.
“The patents are related to inventions that utilize excess renewable clean energy, such as from solar and wind, to convert carbon dioxide (greenhouse gases that cause global warming) to chemicals for industrial applications,” Chen says.
“UofSC has invested significantly in energy research that helps improve energy efficiency and energy security of our nation. I’m very proud to work at UofSC to conduct research that is of national interest.”
CEC chemical engineering professor Melissa Moss is lead inventor on a utility patent to slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
“In this patent, we describe a potential therapeutic for Alzheimer’s disease that targets both RAGE-associated inflammation characteristic of the disease and protein aggregation that leads to deposition of hallmark plaques in the brain,” says Moss, using an abbreviated term for receptor for advanced glycation end products. “This work is a collaboration with Dr. Shannon Servoss at the University of Arkansas. It has been exciting to develop data that points toward an intervention for such a prevalent and divesting disease.”
Kirkland believes that the university’s research and innovation will continue to produce valuable results.
“By competing for and winning additional research funding year after year, our students, faculty and researchers help drive innovation by producing valuable findings,” he says. “From there, the talented team in the Technology Commercialization Office helps protect intellectual property, file patents and commercialize discoveries. This wholistic approach, all driven by our talented people at UofSC, creates the environment for honors like this possible.”