Albuquerque, NM – June 5, 2015 When your bell is rung, a new product being developed by local start-up Pressure Analysis Company (PAC) will be able to tell you how hard. PAC and STC.UNM, the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) technology-transfer and economic-development organization, have signed an option agreement for technology developed at UNM. The technology will be used in PAC products.
PAC is developing the ePACnet™, a head sock that measures and wirelessly transmits intensity and location of a head impact to provide objective, quantitative data in real time, during contact sports. The sensor technology was developed by Dr. Scott Sibbett, research professor in UNM’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and associate director of UNM’s Center for Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Sibbett serves on PAC’s board as a technical advisor.
PAC CEO Michelle Urban said that the company intends to sell the product to athletes, parents and schools. “We are working hard to get the ePACnet™ on the field to show athletes, parents, and coaches the benefits of having objective information on the impacts occurring in football, hockey, and other contact sports,” Urban said. Urban is a recent MBA graduate from UNM in the Management of Technology program. She is a founder of two startups, and has worked with the New Mexico Economic Development Department, in business development, and as a consultant for several years.
STC.UNM CEO Lisa Kuuttila said that UNM is pleased with the technology’s development and path to commercialization. “Commercializing Dr. Sibbett’s patent-pending technology for contact sports applications is timely considering the need for products that can provide objective, immediate information to parents, coaches, and sport-medicine professionals. The development of the ePACnet™ is a wonderful example, along with UNM’s Brain Safe program which studies the long-term effects of sports-related concussions, of UNM researchers leading the way in the emerging field of brain injuries due to contact sports.”
PAC was recently accepted to the ABQid business accelerator (www.ABQid.com). The company will be using the lean start-up method to determine its next steps, including where to manufacture the head socks, how to determine price points, and how best to commercialize this novel, wearable electronic device worldwide.
See Kevin Robinson-Avila’s June 4 article “UNM tech may soon be monitoring head trauma in athletes” from the Albuquerque Journal, reprinted below.
UNM tech may soon be monitoring head trauma in athletes
Athletes, parents and coaches may soon be able to monitor in real time the intensity and location of blows to players’ heads as incidents happen on the field.
The University of New Mexico’s Center for Biomedical Engineering has developed wireless sensors that can be woven into fabric for real-time monitoring and transmitting of data that a new startup, Pressure Analysis Company, plans to market for use in contact sports. The company, which acquired an option to license the technology from UNM’s Science and Technology Corp., is now working to incorporate the sensors into a “head sock” – dubbed the ePACnet – that players can wear.
“We are working hard to get the ePACnet on the field to show athletes, parents and coaches the benefits of having objective information on the impacts occurring in football, hockey and other contact sports,” said company CEO Michelle Urban.
The technology was developed by Scott Sibbett, a research professor in UNM’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Brian Anderson, a research scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also helped test the technology through the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program, which offers free technical services to assist local businesses.
Both Sibbett and Anderson are now technical advisers to the new company.
Urban, a recent MBA graduate from UNM, said the company hopes to sell the ePACnet to athletes, parents and schools.
“We believe this technology has potential in wearable markets,” Urban said.
The company is one of 14 local startups that was accepted into this year’s ABQid business accelerator program. The program provides intense training and mentoring to speed the pace to market for new companies. It also offers a $20,000 grant to participants and the possibility of a follow-on investment of between $50,000 and $100,000 after the 12-week program ends.
“I think there’s real value in this company’s product,” said ABQid Chairman Bill Bice. “I can’t imagine a situation where kids are playing contact sports where parents and others wouldn’t want access to the information this technology makes available.”
The company is now talking with coaches at all levels to get feedback, said UNM Science and Technology Corp. President and CEO Lisa Kuuttila.
“Commercializing Dr. Sibbett’s patent-pending technology for contact sports applications is timely considering the need for products that can provide objective, immediate information to parents, coaches and sport-medicine professionals,” Kuuttila said.
Source: Albuquerque Journal
About PAC (Pressure Analysis Company)
PAC’s new ePACnet™ is a patent-pending, electronic device embedded into wearable fabric that can measure both the intensity and location of impacts. The ePACnet™ sensor is wireless. It monitors head impacts in contact sports for an objective, quantitative alternative to self-reporting. For more information about the ePACnet™, visit PAC’s website at www.epactechnologies.com.
About STC.UNM
As the technology-transfer and economic-development organization for the University of New Mexico (UNM), STC.UNM (STC) protects and commercializes technologies developed at UNM by filing patents and copyrights and transferring them to the marketplace. We connect the business community (companies, entrepreneurs and investors) to these UNM technologies for licensing opportunities and the creation of start-up companies. STC’s vision is to play a vital role in New Mexico’s economic development and to be a leader in technology commercialization. Under the leadership of CEO Lisa Kuuttila, STC is substantially growing its program using the Rainforest model to develop an innovation economy in New Mexico. In 2013, STC was tasked by UNM with implementing its economic-development initiatives. For additional information, contact Erin Beaumont, STC Innovation Manager, at (505) 272-7912 or ebeaumont@stc.unm.edu. To learn more about us, visit our website at www.stc.unm.edu.
Source: STC.UNM
For more information, contact:
Erin Beaumont
(505) 272-7912
ebeaumont@stc.unm.edu
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