The Iowa State University Research Foundation has had a busy year so far having issued its highest amount of patents in 20 years.

Since the beginning of this year the Iowa State University Research Foundation has had 34 patents issued so far. On top of that the Iowa State University Research Foundation is scheduled to issue 5 more patents by the end of the month of May.

So far this year in total, the Iowa State University Research Foundation has filed 62 full applications.

As one would assume, getting a patent application accepted and finally issued is no easy task. The Iowa State Research Foundation figures that out of every 100 invention disclosures only roughly 33 of them will become issued patents.

Even with the low acceptance rates many Iowa State Faculty have been successful in recent research efforts

“Getting things to go from the laboratory to industry is always a challenge” Ryan Ott said. “It’s a very difficult divide to cross but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try”.

As a part of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ames Laboratory Scientist Ryan Ott has researched a variety of rare earth metals. Recently while working with the Critical Materials Institute, Dr. Ott has helped develop a patent for “Recovering Heavy Rare Earth Metals From Magnet Scrap”. 

“Part of the Critical Materials Institute is developing technologies that can be adapted by industry. We’re doing research that is both fundamental research but also research that can be transitioned into industrial applications” Ott said.

Working in Iowa State University’s Biochemistry Biophysics and Molecular Biology department Dr. Reuben Peters along with other graduate researchers has patented a technique that increases the crop yield in soybean production which could someday lead to break throughs in plant resistance.

Dr. Reuben’s patent is titled the “Modificaiton of Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobacteria to Enhance Nodulated Plant Resistance” and hopefully if applicable in industry could be quite profitable for the University.

Although it is estimated only roughly 3-4 out of 100 invention disclosures become profitable, and only 1 out of every 300 disclosures will generate 1 million dollars in revenue, each of these patents will enhance both the reputation and further research at Iowa State.

Cutlines : Iowa State Research Foundation issues most patents in 20 years

A big year for the Iowa State Research Foundation