TERRE HAUTE — At Rose-Hulman Ventures, student-intern Erinn Sheridan has had an opportunity to work on a potentially lifesaving product that will quicken the diagnosis of kidney failure.
She and other project team members have been working on the prototype for FAST Diagnostics of Indianapolis.
Indiana University’s School of Medicine developed and patented the initial concept. FAST Diagnostics licensed it and is now working to take the product to market, with the help of Rose-Hulman Ventures.
Once on the market, the product could help save lives through early detection of kidney failure.
Being involved in such an important project as an undergraduate student — and now a graduate student — “is incredible,” Sheridan said. “The fact that I can make a difference in people’s lives is really kind of special.”
It’s just one of many success stories at Rose-Hulman Ventures, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Rose-Hulman Ventures, a program of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, meets engineering and product development needs of companies and gives students real-world, project-based experiences. It bridges the gap between research and the marketplace, working with companies primarily on a fee-for-services basis.
Through the years, Rose-Hulman Ventures has built and tested prototypes for many new products, including a breast biopsy device that is used in more than 600 medical facilities across the United States.
Rose-Hulman Ventures also has been involved in the development of a minimally invasive neurosurgery device for NICO Corp. of Indianapolis. Used to remove brain tumors, the NICO Myriad device gives surgeons significantly more control in shaving delicate tissue in a tight area. It has drastically cut operating room time and has made formerly inoperable conditions operable. It has saved lives.
Brian Dougherty, the Rose-Hulman Ventures project manager for the NICO Myriad work, likes to tell parents of prospective Rose-Hulman students the following story. “Imagine you are 20 years old, and right before you walk in to take an exam, you get a call from your boss telling you a device you’ve worked on for the last nine months has … saved the life of someone who wasn’t supposed to survive.”
Dougherty believes that kind of innovation is the key to the future of the U.S. economy. Rose-Hulman graduates, using their engineering and problem-solving skills, need to be the ones “driving companies that do this kind of thing,” he said.
Established through an initial $29 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., Rose-Hulman Ventures’ (RHV) operations fill a 35,000-square-foot facility on Rose-Hulman’s 180-acre South Campus along Indiana 46, five miles south of the main campus.
During the past 10 years, Rose-Hulman Ventures has provided the training ground for 757 students who have served in 2,325 paid internships serving 120 clients. An average of 70 student interns work on projects during the academic year and 80 student interns work on projects during the summer. Student intern teams are led by full-time project managers.
Rose-Hulman Ventures has worked with startup companies, while others are well-established, nationally known corporations.
“We’re doing some amazing things here,” said Mitch Landess, Rose-Hulman Ventures manager of client programs. Product development for the kidney failure and brain surgery devices “is just phenomenal stuff.”
Companies “cannot believe we have undergraduate-level students doing this work,” Landess said.
Jeffrey Hanthorn, co-founder, vice president and chief operating officer of NICO Corp., is familiar with the work of Rose-Hulman Ventures on the Myriad neurosurgery tool.
Hanthorn said a Rose-Hulman Ventures project team, under Dougherty’s guidance, “was able to able to take our concepts, thoughts and ideas and develop them to a point we could prove out if the devices and ideas were viable.”
Rose-Hulman Ventures’ work on early product development “was very helpful. We were able to do a lot of things and test them out quickly, and it was very cost-effective from our standpoint,” Hanthorn said.
The student-interns “had a level of enthusiasm that would be difficult to replicate anyplace else,” he said.
Sheridan has developed that enthusiasm while working on the kidney failure detection device.
Knowing that it could someday save lives, “It’s one of those things that it really gives you something to be passionate about,” she said.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.
Schools
Related Photos
-
Project: Rose-Hulman student Tom Gardner takes a measurement on a medical device he's building Wednesday morning at the Rose-Hulman Ventures open house. Bob Poynter
-
Lab conditions: Rose-Hulman student Erinn Sheridan performs a lab test Wednesday afternoon at the Rose-Hulman Ventures open house. At left are students Andy Sowders and Andy Boneff. Bob Poynter
-
Lab: Rose-Hulman students Erinn Sheridan, Andy Sowders and Andy Boneff work in a lab at Rose-Hulman Ventures on Wednesday morning during an open house event. Bob Poynter
-
Rose-Hulman Ventures: Mitch Landess, manager of client programs Rose-Hulman Ventures, talks with Tribune-Star reporter Sue Loughlin on Wednesday morning at the open house. Bob Poynter
Discussion
Rose-Hulman Ventures celebrates its 10th anniversary
- Schools
-
-
Board OKs $5.4M in work at schools
The Vigo County School Board has approved borrowing $5.4 million for an expansion of DeVaney Elementary School and energy-related projects at 15 other schools.
-
Shift to online raises school cost concerns
Legislation that would require high school students in Indiana to take at least one online course is meeting resistance from some school administrators who say they can’t afford any more mandates from the state.
-
Valley educators cautious on Indiana’s ‘No Child’ waiver
Indiana is one of 10 states to receive a waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
-
Driver dies after Illinois school bus crash
“Brace yourself. Brace yourself,” Fay Pickering shouted to her students just before the school bus she was driving crossed U.S. 40 and landed in a ditch Thursday morning.
-
Official: Indiana among first 10 states to get ed waiver
President Barack Obama today will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned.
-
Letters from Debs
Cinda May sat with the phone to her ear listening as the auctioneer in New York City said “Holding, holding.”
-
ISU presents Sycamore Hoopla; activities kick off Friday
Indiana State University’s Hulman Center will host its sixth annual Sycamore Hoopla Friday and Saturday.
-
BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: This little-known compromise may have saved the union
When the Constitution was signed in September of 1787 and sent to the Congress that then existed under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was instructed to send that Constitution to the states to be ratified … or not. The message to the states was clear: Accept the Constitution or reject it, but don’t try to change it.
-
College plans Prom Expo on Feb. 19
Get the scoop on the latest in prom fashions and services during Lincoln Trail College’s Prom Expo Feb. 19.
-
ISU offering tech ed scholarships to VU grads
Indiana State University is offering $1,000 scholarships for graduates of Vincennes University’s technology programs to pursue their bachelor’s degree.
-
Fort Harrison State Park to host winter wildlife workshop
Our culture’s most celebrated survivalists are often men with an accent, a trusty knife, and a tagalong camera crew filming their every move.
-
Riverton Parke's winter king and queen
Seniors Gary Secuskie and Taylor Mansinne were named King and Queen of the Riverton Parke Winter 2012 Homecoming.
-
Four alumni receive GOLD awards from Indiana State University
A former collegiate football standout and a trio known for selling humorous holiday apparel received the Indiana State University Alumni Association’s Graduate of the Last Decade Award this year.
-
Indiana State students hear view from Cuba
Carlos Alzugaray, who spent 40 years representing the Cuban government around the world, wishes NBC newsman Brian Williams had asked a different question during a recent Republican presidential debate in Jacksonville, Fla.
-
College to celebrate homecoming
Lincoln Trail College will celebrate homecoming on Feb. 18.
- Goals, Pride & Achievements: Feb. 9, 2012
-
Valley middle schoolers ready for MATHCOUNTS
Weeks of early-morning and after-school problem-solving sessions for about 100 Wabash Valley middle school students will culminate on Saturday in the regional MATHCOUNTS competition at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
-
Indiana State education major takes teaching to Siberia
Christin Keirn wanted a challenge and she does enjoy winter. So for her, it seemed an obvious choice.
-
Lincoln Trail College honors
Lincoln Trail College has released its academic honor lists for the Fall 2011 semester.
- ACROSS THE WABASH VALLEY: Feb. 9, 2012
-
Vigo schools see grad rate rise
The Vigo County School Corp. 2011 graduation rate improved nearly 4 percentage points and surpassed the state graduation rate, according to information from the state Department of Education.
-
Rose-Hulman to help address need for advancing railroad technologies
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is stepping back into its past and addressing a need to advance the nation’s transportation system by educating the next generation of railroad engineers.
Chauncey Rose, an entrepreneur and builder of railroads, came to western Indiana in 1817. -
Take the Plunge for Special Olympics on Feb. 11 at ISU
Join Mayor Duke Bennett, Indiana State University Police Chief Bill Mercier, Terre Haute and ISU Police departments, GFS Marketplace, Mix-FM, the men of Pi Kappa Alpha and the ladies of Alpha Sigma Alpha at the Fourth Annual Terre Haute Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Indiana on Feb. 11.
-
Valley woman’s recipe featured by Taste of Home
Taste of Home magazine has honored a Riverton Parke Jr.-Sr. High School Foods Services employee for her recipe.
-
College Goal Sunday set for Feb. 12 at Ivy Tech
Financial aid professionals will be volunteering at Ivy Tech Community College in Terre Haute and 39 other Indiana sites to help college-bound students and their families open the door to financial aid during College Goal Sunday, set for 2 p.m. Feb. 12.
-
College to offer aeronautics classes at Robinson airport
Lincoln Trail College is flying high this spring with two aeronautics classes taught at the Robinson (Ill.) Community Airport.
-
Agreement to further college’s international initiatives
Harrison College, a private sector college serving 6,000 students at 12 campuses in Indiana and Ohio as well as online, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Siva Sivani Institute of Management in Hyderabad, India.
-
Otter Creek Middle School to celebrate 50 years
Otter Creek Middle School turns 50 years old this year. In 1962, the newly formed Vigo County School Corp. opened the current Otter Creek Middle School as Otter Creek Junior High School.
-
College savings campaign kicks off statewide
Students in Clay, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties are joining students across Indiana to launch Learn More Indiana’s 2012 Cash for College campaign this week.
Eighty percent of students who attend college receive financial aid.
- Goals, Pride & Achievements: Feb. 2, 2012
- More Schools Headlines
-
Board OKs $5.4M in work at schools
Raw Video: Biden Greets Chinese VP for Visit
Authorities: Houston Found Underwater in Tub
Whitney Houston Funeral to Be Invitation Only
Raw Video: Heavy Shelling in Homs, Syria
Raw Video: 5 People Injured in Bangkok Blasts
Bacteria Keep Swimmers Off Some Fla. Beaches
New Details in Search for Missing Utah Mom
Trial Opens for Ala. Man in Bride's Diving Death
Raw Video: Kim Jong Il Statue Unveiled
Baltimore's 'Crime Stopper' Is a Basketball Star
Raw Video: Hearse Arrives at N.J. Funeral Home
Arm Wrestler Not Guilty Plea in Wife's Death
Raw Video: Houston Body Flown From L.A. to N.J.
First Person: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance
Obama: Good US-China Ties Help the Whole World
Raw Video: Protesters, Security Clash in Bahrain
And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is...
Obama's New Budget: The Winners and Losers
School Pays Students to Attend Class
Kim K. Wet, Wild and Natural
Ultimate Tazer Ball is a Shocking New Sport
Shakira Attacked By Sea Lion
Modern day treasure hunter searching for $3 billion prize
What Happened Inside Whitney's Hotel Room?
Saying 'I Love You' With a Sewage Plant Tour
VS Models Wow for V-Day
Olympic Swimmer Proposes on Podium After Big Win
Kate Upton MLB 2K12 Commercial
Watch: Whitney Houston's Golden Hearse
Scarlett Johansson's Bikini P-D-A
Man Allegedly Drowns Wife While Scuba Diving
Glee Pays Tribute to Whitney
Wash. becomes 7th state to okay same-sex marriage
Romijn's 60 Pound Weight Loss
The 'Celebrity Apprentice' Cast Meets Donald Trump
Kissing contest heats up
Hugh Hefner's Son Arrested
Jacqueline Kennedy's personal papers released
Did Tyler Perry Have a Secret Wedding?
