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Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub launches From Lab to Market, its new technology transfer program 

• The Hub aims to be a reference in the transfer of cutting-edge technologies from research to the market

• The program kicks off with four key innovations poised to revolutionize strategic sectors. The selected technologies range from cardiovascular health assessment to advances in mobile networks, promoting improvements in health, connectivity, and technological efficiency 

May 7, 2024. Fractus, a company renowned for its pioneering advances in antenna technology, has designed and built together with the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) its From Lab to Market program, through the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub.  The program is focused on the identification and transfer of cutting-edge technologies. By acting as a bridge between university research and market needs, the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub is positioned as a strategic ally for the UPC in the process of transferring innovative technologies with high potential to generate social-economic value.

The program has recently been initiated with four innovations developed as a result of research from different groups at the UPC. These innovations have been selected based on their degree of maturity and protection (via patent) and represent substantial advances in critical areas such as health, telecommunications, and the Internet of Things (IoT), among other relevant sectors.

The innovations identified in the program represent significant advances in their respective fields and have transformative potential in various industrial sectors. With each new technology transferred, the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub helps to improve industrial competitiveness, bring new products and services to the public and foster economic development.

Rubén Bonet, president, CEO, Chairman, and co-founder of Fractus, stated that "with the From Lab to Market program, we are focused on bringing, hand in hand with the UPC, cutting-edge innovation from the university to the market effectively. We want to be the catalyst that turns brilliant ideas into successful business realities". Bonet added that "the four key innovations we have identified represent significant advances in their respective fields".

For Climent Molins, vice-rector for Transfer, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UPC, the From Lab to Market program is "one more step in the activity of the University as an active agent: not only does it facilitate the transfer of technology and knowledge, but it does so once it has determined which innovations may be the most strategic, priority or in the greatest demand. A feature that in turn is an incentive for those research groups that perceive that their innovation may be close to having an impact on certain sectors of the productive fabric".

This program positions the Hub as a specialist in technology transfer between academia and business, transforming ideas into opportunities. It is a program that will gradually incorporate new patent-protected innovations. So far, the program has included 4 innovations developed by two UPC research groups:

• Cardiovascular health assessment system based on common devices.
  It is an easy-to-use and affordable system that can use, for example, the force sensors of an electronic scale to assess physiological parameters related to heart and vascular health, including arterial elasticity and pressure. This innovation, developed by the UPC's Instrumentation, Sensors, and Interfaces (ISI) research group, is crucial for predicting future cardiovascular risks.

• Electronic cardioarteriograph. 
  The same former research group (ISI) has patented an innovative device and method that allows the measurement of several cardiovascular parameters from unsupervised measurements easily obtained from hands, feet, or other everyday items. It is compatible and complementary with existing technologies, such as existing ECG devices and body impedance analyzers.
  
  

• Improving communication efficiency for 5G. An innovative method and system that improves communication efficiency in the handover mechanisms of 5G networks has led to a patent from Wireless Networks Group (WNG). What it achieves is to restructure message delivery without introducing a profound change to mobile standards, facilitating operation between networks of different generations (5G and earlier) and improving transmission and service quality.
  
  

• Method for communication between Wi-Fi and non-Wi-Fi IoT devices
  This innovation enables communication between conventional Wi-Fi devices and IoT devices that use communication standards other than Wi-Fi. This innovative technology, also developed by the previous group (WNG), allows new uses to be made of the functions and signals of Wi-Fi transmitters, opening the door to new applications, such as remote control of IoT devices and energy-saving systems based on Wake-up Radio.