Electrical & Computer Engineering Researcher wins 2nd Place in Technology Pitch Competition

During the competition, Dr. Linda Olafsen (left) was mentored by Dr. Gregory Echt (right), an investor trained as a doctor and radiation oncologist.
October 3, 2024 – Baylor University researcher Linda Olafsen, Ph.D., won second place in a pitch competition at the BIONTX iC3 Life Science & Healthcare Innovation Summit for a project called Endovascular Surgical Guidewire with Ultrasound Localization. The technology has potential to enable rapid access to surgical target sites through minimally invasive procedures that result in reduced trauma and recovery time and improve patient outcomes.
“Winning second place was wonderful, but for me, this experience was more about the opportunity to share about the technology with potential partners, investors, and collaborators,” said Olafsen, who is an associate professor in Baylor’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The value for me was getting to meet new people and just the exposure of our technology, and so we know about other folks who are doing potentially related work. A number of people visited with me afterward, and I'm excited about the potential for obtaining additional funding support and moving this toward prototype, which is the next step for what we would like to do with our technology.”
The competition, called the Tech Transfer Office Showcase and Pitch Competition, included contestant faculty from several institutions in Texas, including Rice University, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University, and The University of Texas Medical Branch, among others. The summit was held October 3 and 4 at Loews Arlington Hotel & Convention Center in Arlington, Texas. Olafsen was one of six finalists. The award included a $3,000 prize.
(Explore the six signature research areas in Baylor ECS.)
During the competition, Dr. Olafsen was mentored by Dr. Gregory Echt, an investor trained as a doctor and radiation oncologist.
“We had two practices to work on our talks to pare them down to a five-minute pitch that included the problem we're trying to solve, the innovative nature of the technology and discussing the technology itself, the competitive landscape of medical devices, and then also the plans for marketing and business development,” Olafsen explained.
Olafsen and her team see excellent potential to utilize this technology in neurovascular, cardiovascular, and other vascular procedures. A highlight of the pitch was pointing out the potential for neurosurgeons to have smaller wires to reach previously inaccessible places that can reach deeper into the brain and help treat people that previously were not able to be treated.
Other members of the research team are Keith Schubert, Ph.D., Jeffrey Olafsen, Ph.D., from Baylor University in Waco, along with neurosurgeons Dr. Samantha Dayawansa, M.D., Ph.D., of Archbold Neurology in Georgia, and Jason Huang, M.D., from BaylorScott&White Health in Temple, Texas.
This was Olafsen’s first time to participate in a pitch competition. While faculty at Baylor have been doing innovative research for years, becoming involved in the patent and commercialization process, and being trained to give a five-minute pitch to potential investment partners, is a new kind of experience for some.
That’s where Baylor’s Office of Innovation & Economic Development, which is housed inside the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative, comes in to help bridge the gaps between the lab, potential commercialization partners, the marketplace, and the end users who benefit from a new process or product.
“We encouraged Dr. Olafsen to apply for the BioNTX pitch competition because we believe that the surgical wire technology that she and her colleagues have developed has the potential to make a big impact on endovascular procedures,” said Sarah Anderson, Ph.D., licensing and patent associate in Baylor’s Office of Innovation & Economic Development.
Attending the conference and competing in the pitch competition gave Dr. Olafsen the opportunity to network and increase exposure for the technology, and the fact that she won second place was an added bonus, Anderson reiterated.
“Ultimately, Dr. Olafsen and her team want to move this innovation out of the research lab and into the hands of doctors. To do that, they are seeking a partner to apply for Small Business Innovation Research award to further develop the technology,” she said.
This work is representative of the discovery and innovation happening within the six signature research areas at Baylor’s School of Engineering and Computer Science.
“All of us at Baylor’s Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) are thrilled for Dr. Olafsen, Dr. Schubert, and their team who does such meaningful work,” said JB Lee, Ph.D., Baylor ECE department chair. “This project has real potential to save lives and improve experiences and results for those undergoing procedures.”
Intellectual Property for Licensing
Baylor faculty are developing impactful solutions to real-world challenges. Explore Baylor-made innovative technologies, tools, and advancements available for commercial licensing. Contact the Office of Innovation and Economic Development for additional details on technologies of interest or to connect with faculty inventors. For those interested in opportunities to license intellectual property developed by Baylor ECS faculty, visit our webpage.
More Content with Dr. Linda Olafsen
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