Industry News
Global Venture Capital Firms Invest More Than $1 Billion in Blade.org Members
Representatives of Blade.org, the open collaborative community driving innovation in blade-based solutions, announced that the global venture capital community has invested over $1 billion in the last two years to fund companies developing emerging technologies and solutions to help customers simplify business computing with blade servers.
To celebrate the investment milestone and its one-year anniversary, Blade.org convened in Silicon Valley with its members and leaders of the global venture capital community today to help map the future trajectory of the blade server market -- the industry's fastest growing server market segment predicted to reach $11 billion in revenue by 2010.
In 2006, technology leaders, including Blade Network Technologies, Brocade, Citrix, IBM, Intel, NetXen, Nortel and VMware joined to form Blade.org, an open collaborative community dedicated to building blade-based solutions for customers. From eight founding companies, Blade.org has grown to nearly 100 members in just one year, including leading blade hardware and software providers, developers, distribution partners and end users from around the globe.
IBM and Intel took a unique approach in the blade server industry in 2004 by opening the architecture and specifications of the IBM BladeCenter system. This move to open opportunities for innovation has enabled a growing community of over 400 technology companies who have downloaded the specifications for free to begin to shape the future of the blade server platform. Additionally, the need for the Blade.org community was identified by venture capital firms that recognized the opportunity for up and coming technology companies to play a critical role in the fast growing blade server market.
To date, more than 50 global venture capital firms, including Walden International, USVP, Accel, Austin Ventures, Mayfield and others have many of Blade.org's member organizations, building support for the blade server architecture and spurring development based on open hardware standards. Blade.org members are actively collaborating to build blade-related technologies, such as special purpose blade servers, interconnect technologies, management tools and vertical industry solutions.
In October 2006, Blade.org launched its Blade.org Solution program to provide end-users an easy way to identify product offerings proven to work compatibly with the BladeCenter server platform. To receive the designation "Blade.org Solution," a blade solution must be offered by a Blade.org member company, must operate in concert with the product of at least one other Blade.org member, and must be deployed successfully in a customer environment. In addition to meeting the stated requirements, Blade.org Solutions must undergo rigorous evaluation by technical and marketing committees before achieving the designation.
Blade.org partners have collaborated to develop 30 new solutions for IBM BladeCenter customers in just one year. One such solution, focused on video surveillance, has been developed by Avnet, Blade Network Technologies, DataCom and IBM, and implemented by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to help protect the museum and its assets.
[ FYI Index ]
Wisconsin Institutes for Discover Seed Grant Winners Named
The research program of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison got underway Wednesday, as officials announced the results of a campus-wide competition for the institutes' Discovery Seed Grants.
The eight winning research proposals involve more than 60 faculty and staff researchers from 25 departments across the UW-Madison campus. Their projects encompass methods for discovering new drugs and detecting disease early; treatments for inflammatory diseases, attention-deficit disorder and chronic wounds; advanced "micro-lenses" with medical applications; large-scale production of human embryonic stem cells; and studies focused on eliminating gaps in school achievement among different student populations.
The new $150 million Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery — funded by major gifts from UW-Madison alumni John and Tashia Morgridge, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and the state of Wisconsin — is intended to be an innovative public/private crucible for interdisciplinary research.
Launched last spring by the Morgridges and WARF, the university's patenting and licensing organization, the seed grant initiative is providing $3 million in research funding. The effort aims to stimulate interest in the new institutes, and to inspire researchers to apply their expertise collectively to address some of the thorniest problems facing human health and welfare.
The scientific studies outlined in the selected proposals will help shape the institutes' research agenda; however, they won't necessarily lead to occupancy of the building, which is slated for completion in 2010.
The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery building is planned for the 1300 block of University Avenue and will house two institutes: the public WID and the private Morgridge Institute for Research (MIR). The state-of-the-art facility is intended not only to bring together scientists from a broad spectrum of disciplines, but also to serve as a venue for the arts and humanities, education and outreach, and study of the interdisciplinary research process itself.
The seed grant program is designed to jump-start these activities. In the first phase of the competition last June, faculty and academic staff from 115 UW-Madison departments submitted more than 220 letters of intent. A 12-member faculty committee chaired by Paul Peercy, dean of the College of Engineering, reviewed the letters and invited 35 groups to develop detailed proposals. Another faculty committee then evaluated and rated the full proposals.
Final decisions were made based on the ratings and reviewed by a committee of associate deans from the School of Medicine and Public Health, the Graduate School, and the College of Letters and Science.
According to Seltzer, many more outstanding proposals were received than could be selected for funding. "I was extremely impressed with the creativity of the proposals, the innovative ideas for fostering collaborations, and the breadth of research, education, and outreach programs they brought together," she says. "In the end, these proposals underscore the excellence of the UW-Madison faculty and the promise of the institutes for our campus." Details of the eight winning proposals follow.
Early detection of disease
Biochemist Fariba Assadi-Porter and 11 researchers in chemistry, biology, mathematics, and obstetrics and gynecology will develop early detection methods for complex, difficult to diagnose diseases, particularly polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), currently the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age. The scientists' novel "metabolic analysis" method aims to detect and statistically model the changes in a subset of molecules within body's total pool of metabolites that are reliable, early indicators of PCOS in women.
Treatments for hyperactivity in children
Led by psychology professor Craig Berridge, a six-member team of experts in areas such as animal cognition, pharmacology and neuroscience seeks to uncover the mechanisms in the brain responsible for the cognition-enhancing effects of stimulant drugs, such as Ritalin, which are widely used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. The scientists expect that a better understanding of these underlying mechanisms will lead to new, less risky pharmaceutical treatments for ADHD and other mental health conditions associated with the brain's prefrontal cortex.
Large-scale production of human embryonic stem cells
Derek Hei, a bio-manufacturing expert in the UW-Madison Waisman Center, will join a human embryonic stem cell (hESC) scientist and a bioengineer in developing a precision-controlled bioreactor system for producing large batches of hESC in culture that consistently meet strict requirements for quality. Many experts believe the current lack of such a system is a major obstacle on the path to using hESC in clinical applications, such as transplantation, as well as for non-clinical uses, such as drug toxicity testing. The team will also attempt the large-scale production of heart cells, known as cardiomyocytes, from hESC.
New scientific tools for drug discovery and their use in education
Led by pediatrics professor Anna Huttenlocher, a 10-member team of chemists, biologists, physicists and engineers will create an advanced, micro-scale system for identifying compounds that can control migrating cells involved in chronic inflammatory disorders, such as asthma and inflammatory bowel disease. The team will then test the anti-inflammatory effects of these potential new drugs in a novel zebrafish animal model. With help from a UW-Madison education researcher and a teacher from Madison's West High School, the group will also develop zebrafish into a tool for teaching students about the biology of inflammation and the process of drug discovery.
Micro-optical systems inspired by biology
Taking its cue from the lenses found in mammalian eyes and the compound eyes of insects, an eight-member team of electrical engineers, biomedical engineers, surgeons, ophthalmology researchers and optics experts will use micro-engineering techniques to create low-cost and biologically friendly micro-lenses that surpass their natural counterparts in performance. Led by electrical and computer engineering professor Hongrui Jiang, the team will also explore applications of the micro-lenses in medical tools such as fiber endoscopes, in advanced microscopy methods such as laser-scanning microscopy, and in eye surgery.
Healing of chronic wounds
Christopher Murphy of the School of Veterinary Medicine will lead a seven-member team of chemists, biologists, engineers and surgeons in addressing the problem of chronic, hard-to-treat wounds, such as the foot ulcers suffered by diabetic patients and the pressure sores seen in people of limited mobility. Differing radically from what has been tried before, the scientists' proposed strategy involves "engineering" the wound bed to promote favorable behaviors by cells that will accelerate healing and lead to quicker recovery times for patients.
Screening for drugs that affect receptors on "excitable" cells
A seven-member team of chemists, biologists, engineers, and materials scientists will develop a unique system for identifying compounds that can regulate receptors found on "excitable" cells, such as neurons. These receptors, known as ligand-gated ion channels, have become important targets in the quest to develop new drugs, but are notoriously difficult to study with established drug screening techniques. Led by anesthesiology professor Robert A. Pearce, the researchers propose to use an atomic force microscope as the core of a system that will assess the effects of drugs on the receptors under fleeting conditions that represent their natural activation state.
Reducing the school performance gap between underprivileged and more advantaged children
Psychology professor Mark S. Seidenberg and a team whose expertise spans the fields of neuroscience, psychology, social work, education, and communication disorders intends to close the persistent gap in school achievement that exists between children living in poverty and more advantaged groups. The nine-member team will investigate how reading achievement in African American children relates to early language experiences and cognitive and brain functioning. The researchers' key innovation is that they will use basic neuroscience research to identify major causes of the achievement gap and develop targeted interventions to eliminate the gap.
[ FYI Index ]
Hathaway Global Announces Hiring of Chief Operations Officer
Representatives of Hathaway Corporation, a business development company that focuses on the development of companies in the communications, telecommunications software and medical devices industries, announced that Mr. Sadruddin Currimbhoy will join the management team of Hathaway Global as their new Chief Operations Officer.
Mr. Currimbhoy served as General Manager at the Deccan Pacific group of companies in Fremont, CA since 2004, where he oversaw operations of the group's healthcare and real-estate interests. Prior to that, he spent 5 years in Silicon Valley's venture capital industry, with East Gate Capital, a $60m SBIC Fund that invested in early stage semiconductors, communications and software companies.
Currimbhoy founded Solar Tech Industries Ltd., a Hong Kong-based export house with an annual turnover of $5m. He has traveled extensively within Europe, Asia and Africa, gaining grass-roots level experience in dealing with and respecting, different cultures, laws, and business methods. One of his larger projects included manufacturing and supplying, through a Dutch premiums company, Reebok brand watches, to PepsiCo Benelux for a high-profile promotion. He also co-founded Dynabyte Pacific Ltd. -- a hardware and software solutions provider in Hong Kong, 1992 - 1997. Sadruddin studied Business Administration and Computer Sciences at the University of San Diego.
