Investments – Programmable Materials

Darrell Mann

Living organisms expand and contract soft tissues to achieve complex, 3-D movements and functions, but replicating those movements with human-made materials has proven challenging.

A University of Texas at Arlington researcher recently published groundbreaking research in Nature Communications … Read More

Case Study: Friction And No-Friction

Darrell Mann

Anyone that follows me on Twitter may have noticed that I’m not very good at following other people. It’s nothing personal, just that my brain is not capable of tuning in to fast moving streams of information/noise. That … Read More

Investments – Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Darrell Mann

A new material developed by University of Colorado Boulder engineers can transform into complex, pre-programmed shapes via light and temperature stimuli, allowing a literal square peg to morph and fit into a round hole before fully reverting to … Read More

Patent of the Month – Electro-Manipulation of Cells

Darrell Mann

Patent of the month this month comes from a sextet of inventors at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. US10,070,914 was granted on September 11, and primarily seems to concern the treatment of cancer cells, but it would … Read More

Case Study: Patient Compliance Small Picture

Darrell Mann

Back in April we wrote an article about the difficulties of achieving patient compliance within the healthcare sector (Reference 1). The focus there was very much on the big picture, and, as such, the conclusions we drew could … Read More

Investments – Recycling Lithium Batteries

Darrell Mann

Lei Pan’s team of chemical engineering students had worked long and hard on their research project, and they were happy just to be showing their results at the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) competition last April in … Read More

Dividing 40 into 52: TRIZmeta

Darrell Mann

Next month sees the launch of our new ‘TRIZmeta’ playing cards. Readers with a very long memory may remember that, back in the early CREAX days we made a set of playing cards featuring the 40 Inventive Principles. … Read More

Patent of the Month – Tissue Preservation System

Darrell Mann

Currently, doctors have to throw away more than 80 percent of donated tissue used for joint replacements because the tissue does not survive long enough to be transplanted. Now, following a recent study, University of Missouri School of … Read More

Illustration of Principle #6: Integrated Debit and Credit Card

Vairaj Arjune, Krishna Tripathi

Reach into your wallet, and you will surely find many plastic cards for membership clubs, credit cards, debit cards and so much more. With changing lifestyle and preferences, consumers no longer want to carry bulky wallets … Read More

Patent of the Month – Metabolic Transistor In Bacteria

Darrell Mann

We head to Texas for our patent of the month this month, to a trio of inventors at William Marsh Rice University. Their invention was granted as US10,011,839 on July 3rd. Here’s what they have to say about … Read More

Case Study: Frequent Callers

Darrell Mann

This is the story of NHS paramedic, Rhian Monteith. She was concerned about small numbers of Accident & Emergency ward patients who seemed to keep coming back to the hospital she worked in. So called ‘frequent callers’. … Read More

Investments – Smart Bandage

Darrell Mann

Chronic skin wounds from burns, diabetes, and other medical conditions can overwhelm the regenerative capabilities of the skin and often lead to persistent infections and amputations. With the idea of providing an assist to the natural healing process, … Read More

Investments – Battery-Free Smart Toys

Darrell Mann

It is often said that the majority of innovations start their lives in the war, sex or toy domains. This month’s investment candidate is looking like it will make the transition from great idea to important reality via … Read More

Case Study: Level Crossing

Darrell Mann

Humans can be pretty dumb sometimes. Everything the automotive industry does to make cars safer, we all compensate for by driving worse. There’s a similar phenomenon in the rail industry: the safer the level-crossing systems the rail industry … Read More

Patent of the Month – Reducing Ice Crystal Formation

Darrell Mann

Our patent of the month this month is US9,986,733, granted to Bay Area start-up, X-Therma (x-therma.com, ‘biomimetic nanotech’) on the 5th of June. Here’s what the company has to say about the problem being solved in their invention:

… Read More

Case Studies: Magic?

Darrell Mann

Back in 1987, Michael Jackson amazed the world with his biomechanically impossible dance moves in his music video Smooth Criminal. In the routine, Michael leans from the ankle at a 45-degree angle, while keeping his body straight as … Read More

Investments – 3D-Printed Skin Sensors

Darrell Mann

In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota used a customized, low-cost 3D printer to print electronics on a real hand for the first time. The technology could be used by soldiers on the battlefield … Read More

TRIZmeta the triz game that breaks all the rules.

Kobus Cilliers

Strategy games have always been popular and essential. They prepare us for life and help us to try out risky options in a fictional situation. Now we can take the strategy game a step further.

TRIZmeta is a … Read More

Patent of the Month – Graduated Auxetic Foam

Darrell Mann

Our patent of the month this month sticks to the world of ‘keep-it-simple’, and also manages to stay local. My old haunt, Rolls-Royce in Bristol to be precise, and a pair of inventors who had US9,956,729 granted … Read More

Patient Compliance Big Picture

Darrell Mann

We first wrote about patient compliance via a very specific case study some time ago (Reference 1). Reading Jordan Peterson’s book, ‘12 Rules For Life’ (Reference 2), recently triggered thoughts about the bigger compliance issue. Specifically, his second … Read More