UF researchers created a pesticide that saved the Statue of Liberty from termites and a drug that treats people losing their vision.
The university has 87 patents for original and tested ideas like these, ranking it 20th among international universities and 15th in the U.S., according to the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association.
In Florida, three colleges ranked in the top 30 internationally for their number of patents. The University of South Florida ranked 13th with 104 patents, and the University of Central Florida ranked 30th with 66 patents.
UF has been effective in translating ideas into patented intellectual property, said UF Vice President for Research, David Norton.
“Our office has worked to turn those ideas into impactful technology for society,” he said.
But getting patents isn’t easy.
They take years to obtain and can cost thousands of dollars, said Philip Koehler, an entomology professor and researcher.
“It’s several years from the inception of the idea — showing it can work — to getting approval for it,” he said.
Since January 2012, UF master’s student Casey Parker has worked with Koehler to fight against mosquitoes that carry diseases like the chikungunya, which can cause severe fever and joint pain, and the deadly dengue virus.
With Koehler, the entomology student said she created a container that attracts mosquitos to its rough edges. The inside can be filled with water, which encourages mosquito mothers to lay their eggs in the area.
“I worked on the trap before it was a trap,” said Parker, 23.
Before the trap was created she said she helped create its pesticides, one of which kills adult mosquitoes while the other kills their young.
The container is going through the patent process and is being evaluated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Parker, whose specialization is in medical and veterinary entomology.
Although her name won’t be on the patent itself, Parker said she has the benefit of publishing the data associated with the trap.
As for Koehler, who has been working for UF for about four decades, the number of patents with his name on them is difficult to measure.
A single patent isn’t applicable to every country, Koehler said. Instead, the university has to choose which patents to apply for in different areas based on how that technology could be used there, and each country’s patent processing is different.
Parker said she is excited that her research can benefit others, but it’s taking a long time to get through the patent and EPA-approval process.
“Every time you take a step forward, you take two steps back,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 7/7/15]
- The University of California - 453
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 275
- Stanford University - 182
- University of Texas - 174
- California Institute of Technology - 172
- University of Wisconsin - 153
- Johns Hopkins University - 140
- Columbia University - 119
- University of Michigan - 118
- University of South Florida - 104
- University of Pennsylvania - 101
- Purdue University - 93
- University of Illinois - 92
- New York University - 90
- University of Florida - 87
