Staff Report

COLUMBIA -- The University of South Carolina ranked 19th among 155 universities nationally for the number of startup companies it created in 2006, according to a survey from the Association of University Technology Managers.

The survey gauges academic intellectual-property licensing activities in the United States and Canada.

With six startups for the year, USC tied with Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern University and the University of South Florida.

“We surpassed many academic giants, and we are very proud to be in such elite company,” said Harris Pastides, USC vice president for research and health sciences. “The recent rankings reflect a consistent effort over several years of our talented tech-transfer team and economic development leadership and especially to our deans and faculty.”

Many of the university’s startups are related to alternative energy, fuel cells and health sciences, areas of core research strength for the university.

The startups include Denergy LLC, Palmetto Fuel Cell Analysis and Design LLC and CarbonNix LLC, spun off by the Department of Chemical Engineering; Geogenetics LLC from the Department of Biological Sciences; and InflammaTech LLC and Getting to Outcomes LLC from the College of Pharmacy.

While not counted in the recent survey, five startups formed from USC research in fiscal year 2007: AlphaPore LLC and Hydrogen Hybrid Mobility LLC from the Department of Chemical Engineering; FAMO LLC and Nitek Inc. from the Department of Electrical Engineering; and DPX Labs LLC from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

“Combined with the University of South Carolina-City of Columbia Technology Incubator program and new laboratory infrastructure in Innovista, these efforts provide a solid foundation for attracting new knowledge economy jobs in South Carolina,” said John Parks, executive director of the university’s Innovista research district.

Complete survey results are available online.