Business students at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Indianapolis along with students from the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI are partnering to bring a patented invention to market. Two business students and three biomedical engineering students are joining forces to research how to commercialize a new kidney dialysis invention by IU surgeon George Akingba, M.D., Ph.D. This partnership is made possible through the Center for Research and Learning‘s Innovation-to-Enterprise Central (ITEC) program. IETC takes advantage of IUPUI’s academic diversity by partnering undergraduate students from various disciplines with a mentor to bring a faculty member’s patent to market.
Dr. Akingba’s patented device is called a modular arterio-venous shunt device (MAVD.) It helps open and close a tube, which connects blood flow during dialysis. His invention could improve the tube’s durability.