rESEArCH HIGHLIGHTS - Charlotte Research Institute - University ...

CRI has now taken on the leadership of two entrepreneurial events in Charlotte. Dr. Catherine Hicks led theteam that successfully produced the 2006 Biotechnology Conference. Ken Paulus, joining CRI in 2007,managed the well established Five Ventures ® Business Plan competition and then applied his experience toproduce a larger and more vibrant 2007 Biotechnology Conference. With these events, CRI has workedin strong partnership with the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis and the North CarolinaBiotechnology Center.CRI also leads the “Open for Business” project at UNC Charlotte to develop a model for universities touse in building the nation’s best partnerships with businesses. Project manager Scott Carlberg, a notedpublic affairs entrepreneur, has engaged over 50 companies during the past year and is now hard at workon efforts to integrate and streamline UNC Charlotte’s engagement with the business community.The CRI staff continues to develop in talent and in number. Karen Ford’s masterful management ofevents and communications is matched by Gail Keene’s skillful orchestration of CRI business affairs.Dr. Barry Burks, our newly arrived associate director, brings ten years of experience with his start-upcompany, TPG Applied Technology, and over 14 years background as an investigator at the Oak RidgeNational Laboratory.CRI’s efforts with science and technology start-up companies continue to grow with on-campus companiesstarted by students, faculty, and regional entrepreneurs. This year, A-Metrics located on the CRI campusto pursue research and development on new sensor technologies, and HepatoSys made an agreement tofurther their research on organ preservation for transplantation.The rapid growth and advancement of CRI depends strongly on the research community at UNC Charlotteand our many collaborators and supporters. We are especially thankful to Chairman Kevin Drehmer andthe committed members of the CRI Board. The UNC Charlotte administration has been steadfast in itssupport, and endowments from Duke Energy, Wachovia Corporation and others have allowed the Instituteto invest in a number of new faculty starts, research efforts, and collaborative partnerships. The State ofNorth Carolina continues to be a strong advocate for our growth and research initiatives.Most importantly, we credit the talented faculty, students, and staff that are the fundamental source ofour progress. While we cannot begin to identify all of our many sponsors and supporters, our thanks goout to all who have contributed to our success.3With this talent and support, we look forward to another successful year building the scientific andtechnological partnerships of the future.Sincerely,Robert G. Wilhelm, Ph.D.EXECUTIVE DIRECTORCharlotte Research InstituteResearch Highlights 2006-2007