Celebrating Innovation

When ideas and innovation go from thought to market, intellectual property (IP) rights play an important role in protecting what’s created. Every year, World Intellectual Property Day highlights the vast amount of IP across the globe.

The different type of IP include:

• Copyright: The rights that authors and creators of original material have over their literary and artistic works.
• Patents: An exclusive property right granted for a specific invention.
• Trademarks: Distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises.
• Trade Secrets: The rights to confidential information which may be sold or licensed.

Here’s a look at two FAU researchers who produced an IP project with help from FAU’s Office of Technology Development (OTD).

Heather Howard, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the College of Social Work and Criminal Justice, recently filed a copyright registration for her a training manual called "Sharing a Path Forward: Specialized Certified Recovery Peer Specialist (CRPS) Training Manual.” It is used to support CRPS in developing the skills necessary to most effectively help individuals and families involved with the child welfare system.

Q: How did you first become interested in copyrighting your research?

A: I am a firm believer in protecting your clinical research that informs best practices. The time and energy that is devoted to the work is immense and it is important to honor that.

Q: Can you give a breakdown of the copyright application process you are doing with OTD?

A: I met Dana Vouglitois, J.D., associate director OTD, serendipitously at the FAU Starbucks, through an introduction by my daughter, a FAU master's student in criminology and criminal justice. Promptly, she sent me an email with the form I needed to complete to begin the process. Dana and I had a virtual meeting to discuss the material and then she executed the copyrighting. This was completed in a dependable and professional manner. It was a simple process, which is appreciated as a busy clinical researcher.

Q: Tell me about your overall research goals?

A: My two major research goals are to promote family preservation and support the mother-infant dyad for families impacted by trauma and substance use disorders. Secondly to promote wellness in the healthcare system to prevent occupational burnout and secondary stress syndrome.

Q: What new developments and innovations are you excited about in your research?

A: I began my research in 2014 exploring decision-making processes for pregnant women with opioid use disorder. A major finding was how support for a patient's autonomy and competence to change indirectly addressed the harm of internal and external stigma. I am now developing destigmatizing practices in health care to support treatment engagement and recovery for patients with substance use.

As for the well-being of health care workers, my clinical research has demonstrated that organizational support is paramount and is what sustains nurses, physicians, and health care social workers.

Q: What is an interesting fact that people at FAU may not know about you?

A: I am a New Englander, but my favorite season is summer. Hence, my Florida license plate reads endless summer.

Oscar Curet, Ph.D., an associate professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, filed a patent application for a hybrid propeller/undulating fin propulsion for aquatic vehicles. This invention uses a hybrid propulsion system, a machine that produces enough force to push an object forward, and effectively integrates a flexible fin with a propeller for aquatic vehicles. The new propulsion will allow aquatic vehicles to perform advance force control in multiple directions while retaining its high-speed performance.

Q: How did you first become interested in patenting your research?

A: I became interested in patenting my research after I participated in the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program. This program helps faculty and researchers to translate ideas from basic research to the marketplace. In many instances it is through patents that research ideas can make a significant impact on society.

Q: Can you give a breakdown of the patent application process you are doing with OTD?

A: Most of my work is actually before the patent application, where I, along with my students, developed the design, fabrication and testing of the invention. Once we think we have a patentable invention with a defined utility then we go through the invention disclosure, and description of the invention.

Q: Tell me about your overall research goals?

A: The motivation of my research group to do innovation through bio-inspired systems. In particular, we look at nature for inspiration to develop new marine propulsion systems, energy harvesting and coastal protection.

Q: What new developments and innovations are you excited about in your research?

A: I’m very excited about a few projects we are doing in the lab. One project is to develop a network of a school of robotic fish for ocean monitoring. This work is in collaboration with Dimitris Pados, Ph.D., professor and George Sklivanitis, Ph.D., Schmidt research assistant professor, both in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. We are using innovation in underwater communication, network and bio-inspired propulsion to create a group of bio-inspired underwater vessels that can coordinate, share information and cooperate between them and across isolated ocean observatories. This network of bio-inspired fish will be key to monitor ocean environments that we cannot currently operate with unmanned vehicles.

In another project we are investigating mangrove-inspired structures for coastal protection and carbon dioxide capture. Coastal communities and coastal ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change. In this work we are developing coastal built environments integrating natural ecosystems and engineered structures that have the potential to enhance shoreline protection and capture carbon dioxide while restoring marine ecological functions to support thriving ocean and coastal communities.

Q: What is an interesting fact that people at FAU may not know about you?

A: In my free time, I like to create wood furniture.