Scientist’s device to improve breathlessness is focus of innovative UF program

Are the Donald Trumps and Bill Gateses of the world born or bred? Leaders of an innovative University of Florida program that aims to train the entrepreneurs of the future bet it’s both.

Housed in UF’s College of Engineering, the Integrated Product and Process Design program, or IPPD, offers business and engineering students the opportunity to develop “real world” products while interacting with corporate partners.

Historically, IPPD projects have been industry-sponsored, involving concepts provided by such corporate heavy hitters as Dow Chemical, Dell Computer, IBM and Motorola. Now, for the first time, three UF inventions are the focus of 15 IPPD students, who are zeroing in on the inventions’ marketing potential. UF also is unique in the way it has structured the multidisciplinary program, combining the perspectives of undergraduate engineering students and those of students working toward master’s degrees in business.

These students are currently turning their attention to a device developed by Paul Davenport, Ph.D., a professor at UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine, that can be used in conjunction with a training program to reduce vocal strain and strengthen voice muscles. It has already undergone extensive testing in high-risk performers in street and musical theater and choral ensembles, in Navy divers and even in high-school band students. Articles documenting the program’s positive preliminary results have appeared in Advance for Speech-Language Pathologists & Audiologists and in the Journal of Voice.

“What we’ve developed is a noninvasive mechanical device that fits in the patient’s pocket, about the size of a tennis ball,” Davenport said. “Using our device and training program for only three to four weeks, people can increase their breathing force an average of about 50 percent.”

Davenport said that although the device is not a cure for patients with lung disease, for some it could improve quality of life.

“We estimate that there are approximately 20 million people with airway dysfunction of some type that this could help,” he said.

Davenport’s research prompted IPPD program Director Keith Stanfill, Ph.D., P.E., to seek funding for the students to tackle entrepreneurial projects focused on actual product inventions, not just concepts. In one project, students are working to develop a small device that will wirelessly update a computer to monitor dairy cows’ key health indicators, such as temperature, if the cow is burning too much fat, and distance the cows travel. In another, the students are developing a low-cost device and service for contaminated groundwater remediation monitoring and analysis.

The students are part of a virtual startup company formed around Davenport’s invention with the help of faculty and industry mentors. Undergraduate engineering students focus on the technology and design concepts, while graduate-level business students create a business plan and conduct market research. There is even a “virtual CEO” — a representative from MRI Devices, a company based in Waukesha, Wis., that has offices in Gainesville. The firm donated $20,000 to sponsor the project.

“With their investment in the project, as well as providing technical and business-related resources, they’re helping to ensure the project’s success,” Stanfill said. “In addition, the students are gaining some really valuable skills.”

Alan Marder, UF’s licensing officer in charge of marketing Davenport’s invention, said the IPPD’s new focus could provide UF with the opportunity to take a leading role in the creation of new businesses by using intellectual property it already owns.

“Some of the more aggressive students will have the chance to become founding stockholders,” Marder said. “I think it’s pretty exciting.”