Campaign YouTube
Campaign Flickr
OSU Facebook
OSU Twitter
Powered By Orange
OSU horticulture professor emeritus Les Fuchigami tests a prototype of the Ping Meter to check levels of nitrogen on grape vines.
The meter is one of six projects to currently receiving funding through OSU’s Venture Fund, a tax incentive program to help commercialize university research.
Tax-incentive program yields promising inventions
Six OSU projects receive Venture Fund awards
The device Les Fuchigami holds in his hands has generated a lot of interest from growers. With a simple click of the “Ping Meter,” the horticulture professor emeritus can measure the nitrogen and water content of a plant’s leaf, and compare the results to existing standards.
This instant information can help growers adjust fertilizer and irrigation plans to optimize the quality and yield of their plants. It’s a technology that is so exciting that Fuchigami receives calls every week from people checking on the meter’s progress.
But until the project received a Venture Fund grant, the commercial future of this useful invention was uncertain.
“The Venture Fund award came at the perfect time,” said Fuchigami. “We were funding this out of our pockets, and our pockets are very thin.”
Created by the Oregon State legislature, the University Venture Development Fund is a tax incentive program designed to bring more ideas developed at Oregon universities to the marketplace. Oregon taxpayers who give to the fund can receive a 60 percent state tax credit. For some donors that means their bottom line cost can be as little as 5 or 10 percent of their total gift.
With the support of many donors, OSU was able to distribute the first round of Venture Fund awards this summer to six promising projects. In addition to the Ping Meter, grants were made to develop thin-film solar cells using ink-jet printing technology; a new wood-adhesive made from all renewable materials; a small-scale water pasteurization system; a new organic compound that could improve drug production; and a major advance in mass spectrometry, the molecule-smashing technology used in a variety of scientific fields.
For Fuchigami and his former doctoral student Pinghai Ding — for whom the Ping Meter is named — the Venture Fund award means they can take their invention through the final stages of development to turn it into a commercial product. And that’s a prospect many Oregon growers and nursery owners are looking forward to with anticipation.
“At this point there’s no other technology that will give you results as rapidly,” said Lance Lyon, ’71, manager of Femrite Nursery, who has been following Fuchigami’s work ever since he was a student at OSU himself. “If they can get all the pieces in place, I think it will be a very valuable tool.”
For more information visit the OSU Venture Fund webpage, or contact Julie Brandis at 541-737-2900 or Julie.Brandis@oregonstate.edu.
How it Works
| Donor gift to OSU’s Venture Fund | $50,000 |
| Estimated Oregon Tax Credit (60% of gift) | $30,000 |
| Potential Federal Income Tax Savings | $17,500 (assumes 35% tax bracket) |
| Estimated Net Cost of Gift to the Donor | $2,500 |
| These calculations are for illustration purposes only. Donors should seek the counsel of a tax professional for specifics regarding their potential gift. | |
Learn More
