EnWave Corporation is a UBC spin-off company based on unique dehydration techniques discovered by researchers led by Prof. Tim Durance in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems.
The Vancouver-based company is setting new industry standards for the dehydration of food and biomaterials, working to provide manufacturers with technology that is significantly faster, more energy-efficient and cost-effective than freeze drying, and produces a higher-quality end product than air drying or spray drying.
EnWave has been developing the Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) platform, which combines microwave energy with vacuum pressure to control the temperature at which liquids boil and subsequently evaporate, since 1996.
Such is the success of the UBC REV technology that the company and UBC have agreed to transfer ownership of the patents to EnWave in a deal valued at approximately $5.5 million – one of the largest deals for UBC and Canadian technology transfer history.
“This new agreement not only points to the value of nurturing ongoing relationships between UBC and its spin-off companies, requiring a patient and flexible approach to commercialization, it also illustrates how UBC research discoveries can have a transformational impact on an industry,” says Angus Livingstone, managing director of UBC’s University-Industry Liaison Office.
“Through a combination of determination, innovation and strategic development EnWave is now making a significant economic impact in B.C.”
“By taking a commercial risk at a crucial point in the company’s development a few years ago, UBC’s University-Industry Liaison Office played a pivotal role in EnWave’s success, enabling it to diversify and reinvigorate its business,” says Durance, who is also chairman and co-CEO of EnWave. “As a result, today we’re able to complete this landmark agreement for both UBC and EnWave.”
More about the University-Industry Liaison Office: www.uilo.ubc.ca
More about EnWave Corporation: www.enwave.net
Read the EnWave Corporation media release relating to the new agreement: http://www.enwave.net/index.php?content=news&id=128
