Propel December 2020 Newsletter

Propel PSU: A Pipeline to Innovation

Propel PSU codifies connections between Portland State's Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Intellectual Property, and the Portland State Business Accelerator to support PSU faculty, students, and staff. Propel PSU believes entrepreneurship and commercialization increase the impact of innovative ideas.

Nurturing the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

The Cube is a student incubator program within the Center for Entrepreneurship at Portland State University. Participants engage in a four-month intensive course designed to prepare companies for launch and go-to-market. The Cube's first cohort recently graduated from the program and had the opportunity to pitch their ideas to mentors and industry leaders at the first Cube Demo Day.

The Cube

Developing new tools to study disease

Innovation Corner: Developing New Tools to Study Disease

Tendai Mafireyi, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry professor Robert Strongin's lab, has developed a patent-pending dye to detect the presence of an enzyme associated with cancers and other diseases such as Parkinson's. Mafireyi's collaboration with melanoma researchers at Oregon Health & Science University led to the new dye's development. It could help cancer researchers address unanswered questions about why the disease biomarker thioredoxin reductase overexpresses in some, but not all melanoma cases.

Portland State Business Accelerator Company-In-Residence: The TOVA Company

The TOVA Company seeks to leverage technology to help schools and medical professionals diagnose attention disorders and empower scientists to research attention-related topics.

Extreme Viruses and Innovation

Portland State biology professor and innovator Ken Stedman studies viruses that thrive in extreme environments. Stedman's research led to innovations and a startup company, StoneStable, that could revolutionize how vaccines are stored and transported.

Events & Announcements

Cleantech challenge

Deadline to apply for the Cleantech Challenge extended to Dec. 31

The PSU Cleantech Challenge is an exciting competition for campus cleantech innovators and entrepreneurs with inspired solutions to today's most pressing environmental problems. Through the Cleantech Challenge, these innovators have taken their concepts from ideas to reality.

Become a Cleantech innovator

Table Stakes Summit: 12/9/20 - 12:00 - 4:00 pm

Table Stakes is a gathering of change-makers and the brightest minds among investors, founders, operators, and policymakers. The event will center on a discussion of the 2020 Table Stakes report and the state of fair equity practices. The Table Stakes report, now in its third year, will include data on the equity gap between men and women and an examination of how race plays a role in the distribution of equity. The event is free to attend. Register here.