LRD coordinates knowledge and technology transfer at KU Leuven.
KU Leuven Research & Development (LRD) was established in 1972 as one of the first technology transfer offices in Europe. Over the years, LRD has developed a tradition of collaborating with industry, securing and licensing intellectual property rights, and creating spin-off companies. LRD is dedicated to building bridges between science and industry, and to transferring knowledge and technologies to the marketplace.
Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, making harmless infections life threatening. In search for an alternative to antibiotics, KU Leuven researchers of the Laboratory for Gene Technology (Professor Rob Lavigne, Dr. Yves Briers) have developed a designer enzyme (called Artilysine®) that can defeat important super bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
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The Bell Labs Prize is awarded to game-changing and impactful ideas that have the potential to change the way we live, work, and communicate with each other. Professor Patrick Reynaert has developed a new communication technology based on small CMOS radio interfaces that are connected through inexpensive plastic waveguides, enabling much higher speed data communications across several meters, such as inter- or intra-chassis communications, and at a far lower cost (and easier) than equivalent optical communications. These plastic data connections are ideal for applications in cars, since copper can be disturbed by electrical fields and optical fibre does not perform well in case of vibrations.
More info: Bell Labs Prize