Source: Tresa Landis, 785-532-3917, tlandis@k-state.edu

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

K-STATE SPOTLIGHT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LUNCHEON SET FOR APRIL 16

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's seventh annual Spotlight on Intellectual Property will be 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, April 16, in the K-State Alumni Center Ballroom.

The Kansas State University Research Foundation, the Kansas State University Foundation, the K-State Alumni Association and the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce are sponsors of the annual event to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of K-State inventors, patent-holders and other creators of intellectual property.

Keynote speaker for the 2010 luncheon is Toby Rush, president and chief executive officer of Rush Tracking Systems based in Lenexa. Rush will discuss applying intellectual property to a start-up company.

Rush co-founded Rush Tracking Systems in 2003 as a consulting firm to help companies purchase and install radio frequency identification systems. Soon after, Wal-Mart announced that it would begin using the technology to track its inventory. Rush Tracking Systems played into the trend and eventually turned to the niche market of warehousing and logistics.

Rush has achieved national recognition as an expert in mobile and wireless technologies. His experience in delivering mobile enterprise solutions in challenging and dynamic environments, and his expertise in mobile and wireless computing, has led to consulting engagements with numerous Fortune 500 companies including Compaq's IPAQ Mobile Solutions Group, Smith International Inc. and Microsoft.

He was selected as one of the top 10 entrepreneurs for the charter class of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation's PIPELINE program in 2006. With the recent sale of Rush Tracking Systems to a private equity firm, he becomes the first PIPELINE innovator to successfully grow and sell a company. He also was named as a finalist for the Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2007.

Rush received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from K-State in 1998.

Also at the Spotlight on Intellectual Property event, five K-State researchers who were issued a U.S. patent in 2009 will be honored:

* Jiantao Wei, a former K-State faculty member, with Shufeng Han, Iowa State University, were issued two patents for a vehicular guidance system used to collect color image data that enables crop image data to be distinguished from background data.

* Justin Dyer, a K-State graduate in electrical engineering, and Bala Natarajan, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, were issued a patent for technology to improve wireless data and other communication systems. The technology also enables next generation smart adaptive radios and makes radars more effective by customizing the coding used in transmitting their signals.

* John Tomich, professor of biochemistry, and Takeo Iwamoto, adjunct associate professor of biochemistry, were issued a patent for improved methods and preparations for delivering therapeutic drugs across ocular tissues.

The cost of the luncheon is $15 for students and $20 for all others. To make luncheon reservations please call 785-532-5720 or e-mail tech.transfer@ksu.edu before the Monday, April 12, deadline.