John Shovic, a 1989 University of Idaho graduate in electrical and computer engineering, has started six companies throughout his career, three based around technology developed at UI.
Shortly after he earned his doctorate, Shovic co-founded Advanced Hardware Architectures with the university.
“This start up was a spin-off of a technology developed for NASA,” said Shovic, the chief technology officer of InstiComm, LLC, based in Coeur d’Alene. “(AHA) builds advanced data compression error correction computer chips. It corrects errors in communications caused by noise and bad signals and things like that.”
Shovic said CD readers use this kind of technology with music disks.
“Scratch it, and yet still play it,” Shovic said. “That’s because there’s a code that corrects the errors caused by the scratch.”
Because of his work to move technology from the lab to the marketplace, the UI Office of Technology Transfer presented the Outstanding Alumni Innovator award to Shovic March 22.
Gene Merrell, UI associate vice president for economic development, said the OAI award, along with others offered by the office, encourage faculty and students to convert data from a paper to a product.
“It’s about working with this office to get the new stuff out,” Merrell said. “If a faculty member in the course of their research thinks they have come up with some new technology that might have commercial application — they would call us.”
The office works with researchers to develop a clear picture of what the technology is, how it would be made into a product and who the customer will be.
“And if it sounds like the technology is developed far enough, then we’ll ask them to complete a form that we use to guide our market assessment,” Merrell said. “Are there customers? Is the product going to be better, faster, cheaper, than what’s already out there? Is it competitive?”
The office also checks patent literature to ensure the product has not already been invented elsewhere. If it is open, the office will start the patent process.
“All of that is important in finding that company to — we call it — licensing,” Merrell said. “They buy the rights to the technology to risk that investment, and then we’ll try to identify an existing company that could take the existing technology to market, or typically for those that have a much higher risk, we might start a new company.”
Forty percent of the net licensing income goes to the inventor, 40 percent goes to the university, 10 percent goes to the college the inventor is a part of and 10 percent goes to the department.
Merrell said the office deals with a range of technologies from the university.
“We’ve done some educational tools,” Merrell said. “(From) somewhat higher tech, like new plant varieties, to very high tech, where it’s nano-based activities.”
Shovic said his favorite start-up company from UI research is Blue Water Technologies, because it is so environmentally friendly.
“That is in the waste water treatment area,” Shovic said. “Basically removing various contaminates from waste water before it’s put back out into the environment, like phosphorus and stuff like that.”
Merrell said Plumber, Idaho, recently installed a BWT system.
“In Plumber, the size of the plant restricted the ability of Plumber and that region to grow their economy,” Merrell said. “They had no more capacity. So by improving the removal of waste products, they were able to expand the capacity of the plant to meet the demands of the region.”
Shovic said starting a business around a new technology requires an interdisciplinary team.
“You don’t want just engineers running a company,” Shovic said. “And you don’t want just businessmen running a company.”
Joanna Wilson can be reached at [email protected]