Prize For Innovation Awarded to Start-Up Company Led By Dr. Duncan Maitland
A start-up company led by a Texas A&M University faculty member and located on the Texas A&M campus recently received a prize for innovation from the Houston Technology Center, Texas’ largest technology incubator and accelerator.
Shape Memory Therapeutics, Inc., led by Dr. Duncan Maitland, associate professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Dwight Look College of Engineering, was awarded second place for the Goradia Innovation Prize, which recognizes the best innovations from leading Texas Gulf Coast universities and research institutions and encourages bringing those innovations to the marketplace. The second-place prize comes with a $25,000 award.
“Shape Memory Therapeutics is commercializing a game-changing device for treating cerebrovascular aneurysms,” said Maitland. “Our technology has the potential to treat more patients than can be treated with current devices. Further, we believe that SMP scaffolds are safer and more effective than existing devices.”
“Dr. Maitland’s efforts to commercialize the SMP technology will bring outstanding research benefits and breakthrough technology for the benefit of all,” said Dr. Jeffrey R. Seemann, vice president for research at Texas A&M and chief research officer for The Texas A&M University System.
Housed in the Texas A&M Bioscience Business Accelerator (BBA), Shape Memory Therapeutics, Inc., was founded in 2009 to commercialize innovative medical devices based on Shape Memory Polymer (SMP) materials developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and through the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University System.
Texas A&M’s BBA is designed to encourage the growth of start-up companies in the bioscience sector, allowing biomedical device companies to optimize their capital and to obtain maximal value for research dollars.
“At Texas A&M we understand the critical role that inventors and innovators play in harnessing the products of the University’s research enterprise for the benefit of Texas, the nation and the world,” said Seemann. “For companies like Dr. Maitland’s, the Texas A&M Bioscience Business Accelerator maximizes access to comprehensive research services and product development support—from inception through clinical trials—and serves as a key resource in the commercialization process.”
The Houston Technology Center’s selection of awardees for the Goradia Prize was based upon the commercial potential of a company’s innovation, the soundness of its business plan, the potential for job growth within the region and the likelihood of significant long-term success.
