Intellectual capital.
The phrase, in vogue with business leaders and economic developers, describes the smarts, the know-how that elevates Colorado competitively.
Its wellspring is the classrooms and research labs at the state’s universities.
There, students and faculty are concocting inventions that one day could change our lives.
Google is developing a robotically driven car in California, Jetsonesque in its way. But no less notable are Colorado’s automated lawn mowers, pilotless helicopters and treaded intestinal crawlers.
More to explore. See a sampling of some of the inventions. University of Colorado
The idea of a colonoscopy makes people squirm.
Instead, how about swallowing a medically equipped capsule that can motor through your intestines via remote control?
Yes, there’s still a squirm factor, acknowledges assistant professor Mark Rentschler, a biomedical and mechanical engineering specialist.
But the nascent technology could be far more effective and less invasive than a conventional colonoscopy and abdominal surgery.
When fully developed, the “GI crawler” would send video images, biopsy tissue, excise polyps and even perform surgical procedures such as gall-bladder removal — all with minimal discomfort.
“The idea is to have surgery at 8 a.m. and be on the golf course by 2 p.m.,” Rentschler said.
An initial version of the capsule — slightly bigger than a large vitamin — could be in clinics within five years.
Other CU projects: Gardening robots and “living walls” that use biomimicry, or imitation of nature, to slash energy use in buildings.
Colorado School of Mines
Time to mow the lawn? Great. Proceed to the patio with cold beverage in hand and push a button on the remote control.
The robotic mower uses GPS technology to map your landscape and navigate the Weederbot, looking conspicuously like a conventional riding mower, sans the bored human driver.
Faculty and students originally developed the machine to mow invasive weeds at Barr Lake State Park, without devoting costly labor.
The device could one day be commercialized for residential use, but one problem exists: Low-cost GPS units aren’t quite precise enough to perfectly manicure a lawn.
“At this point it would cost several thousand dollars to get more precision, and people are not going to want to spend that on a lawn mower,” said John Steele, a professor of engineering.
Meanwhile, Steele envisions the technology with year-round applications.
“I would love,” he said, “to build my own little plow to go out and push my snow around.”
Other Mines projects: Radio-controlled excavation equipment for search-and-rescue missions at underground mine disasters.
Colorado State University
Care of sick infants depends on getting them quickly to clinics or hospitals. But in remote areas of developing countries, there may be no medical-evacuation helicopters or even ambulances.
“I challenged my students to think outside the box and find a way to make this work,” said Sue James, a professor and head of the mechanical engineering department.
The result: a neonatal incubator backpack that replicates the functions of conventional incubators.
The battery-powered device provides oxygen, heat, vibration cushioning and a tethered monitor that enables the backpack wearer to see the infant’s body temperature and other vital signs.
Two of James’ graduates have started a nonprofit company that will attempt to develop and sell the backpacks on a commercial scale.
James said the goal is to price the portable incubators at less than $1,000 each in order to make them broadly available.
Other CSU projects: Solar-powered water- purification units used at disaster sites, high-tech orthopedic implants and cooling systems for firefighter suits.
University of Denver
Ambulances and their paramedics have a common practice.
“They’re sitting around in a parking lot all day long, with their engines running, waiting for a call,” said Griff Kundahl, director of global programs at the School of Engineering & Computer Science. “Ambulances are notorious energy hogs and polluters.”
Kundahl and his students, with assistance from Lockheed Martin and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, retrofitted a Denver Health ambulance with solar panels that keep the unit’s computers and medical equipment powered without idling the engine.
The prototype was introduced at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and deployed at the Pepsi Center.
“We found that it saved 10 gallons of fuel a day and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 40 tons a year,” said Anthony Fusco, one of Kundahl’s students.
Fusco and fellow students now are working on a second version of the ambulance that will feature higher-efficiency solar collectors and batteries.
Other DU projects: Unmanned helicopters, planes, ground vehicles and submarines for use in search and rescue, forest fire prevention, pipeline monitoring and crop surveillance.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
