Connections: Research Idea to Product Marketing
iXpressGenes, Inc. and Fitz-Thors Engineering, Inc. highlighted the success that is the Crystal X2 microscope. The unlikely partnership between the small Huntsville biotechnology company and the Birmingham engineering firm that typically focuses on the automotive industry was the highlight of the 4th PBR Connections event on February 28, 2013. Through the trials and tribulations of getting a product to market in less than 8 months to the folly that was the first showcase to a large customer in the UK, the evening was filled with laughter and inspiration as Peggy Sammon, CEO iXpressGenes, Inc., Matt Fitzgerald, Co-Founder Fitz-Thors Engineering, Inc. and Joe Ng, Founder iXpressGenes, Inc. retold the story of how the Crystal X2 moved from research idea to a product on the market.
Approximately 50 business leaders, scientists, and students attending the PBR Connections event Research Idea to Product Marketing hosted at HudsonAlpha Insitute for Biotechnology on February 28, 2013. The unveling of the Crystal X2 microscope by local Huntsville company iXpressGenes, Inc. was only upstaged by the theatrical rewrite of a popular tune from Les Misérables featuring a disgruntled lab technician pining for a better microscope like the Crystal X2. The Crystal X2 is now on the market and being sold to labs specializing in protein crystalization. More information about the Crystal X2 can be found on the web at crystalx2.com.
PBR also announced a new mission and vision statement, business model, and an award being given this year in partnership with Leo Law at the Alabama Science and Engineering Fair in April. The award will be given to the best high school project in the fields of life-science that relate to biotechnology. The individual selected will receive a $500 cash award plus a provisional patent filing for the project and associated legal fees curtosy of Leo Law, LLC.
The next PBR Connections event will be held May 7 over lunch and will be hosted by Teledyne Brown Engineering. For more information on supporting PBR by becoming a business or individual partner click here. The Partnership for Biotechnology Research would like to thank all those in attendance, iXpressGenes, Inc., Fitz-Thors Engineering, Inc. and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.