Lemelson Finalist Recognized For Innovations Across Multiple Platforms

As a graduate student, Lucas Smith has already mastered the science of innovation. In pursuit of an outlet for his ideas, he founded BioAnalytics, his own technology solutions company. In February, the Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC) recognized Smith’s accomplishments by naming him one of eight finalists for the Lemelson-Illinois Student Prize.

Smith received this honor as an acknowledgement of BioAnalytics’ phenomenal growth and creativity. Since its founding, BioAnalytics has grown from a team of a few core members, to an innovative powerhouse of 54 creative specialists breaking new ground in multiple engineering disciplines ranging from alternative energies, to medical testing devices, to computer software.

While Smith has been incredibly successful in the classroom—both as an undergraduate in biochemistry and a master’s student in molecular and cellular biology (MCB)—he has always wanted to take his education into the real world and apply it in a practical manner.

“While Biochemistry is a great, intense, research-oriented program,” Smith said. “My real passion has always been working on initiatives that have a more direct social impact.”

Three years ago, when BioAnalytics was first founded, Smith spent a lot of time thinking about the types of products he wanted to pursue. While his research group’s main focus was on a point of care blood diagnostic device, the harsh, lengthy testing required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) makes new medical technologies a very difficult area to start a business. To fund his ventures, he decided to extend his research outside of molecular and cellular biology, allowing him to introduce other technologies at a quicker rate and hit the ground running with BioAnalytics.

“It was going to take 8-10 years of trials to get any medical technologies up and running,” said Smith. “We needed something small to start out with that could start feeding our innovation.”

After considering different opportunities, Smith began designing BioAnalytics’ first project, a toilet mechanism designed to reduce the spread of pathogenic bacteria into the air.

“There is evidence that when you flush a toilet, pathogenic bacteria is released into the air and can stay there for multiple hours. These materials can settle on surfaces up to 50 feet away,” Smith noted. “In areas of heavy traffic, such as hospitals and airports, a large transfer of bacteria occurs this way.

“We experienced incredible results, reducing the spread of pathogenic bacteria 15,000 fold while also figuring out how to reduce water consumption 30% in automatic toilets,” Smith said. “Once we patented these designs, we were really able to start facilitating some connections.”

Similar to its growth in personnel, the variance of initiatives being researched at BioAnalytics has also dramatically increased. Current projects include innovations varying from a concentrated solar thermal technology that increases the efficiency of solar fields to a medical device that tests blood at a much faster rate than previously possible. According to Smith, the innovative ideas do not come from hours of brainstorming, but rather from noticing aspects of daily life that can be done safer or more efficiently.

“[When I got the idea for a faster blood-testing device] I was sitting in a hospital realizing I’m going to have to wait a week for the results of this test,” said Smith. “I don’t go looking for solutions, they find me. Often times they are things in daily life. It’s really just realizing there is a problem, then looking for a way to solve it.”

One of BioAnalytics’ most recent projects, Illuminate, stemmed simply from Smith’s frustration with how long it took him to scroll through a web page. Illuminate rapidly expedites the way users browse the internet by allowing them to not only search for a unique page, but also for a specific section of that page.

“I realized that whenever I was using a search engine, I would click on a page and, once I got there, I would use a search function. However, I couldn’t put multiple words into the search, which is necessary when using a large document,” added Smith. “Everyone’s talking about finding the relevant pages, but the next step is finding the relevant information on each page.”

For Smith, being named a finalist for the Lemelson Award is a huge honor, one that he would prefer to share with the whole BioAnalytics team.

“It’s not me, it’s all the other guys that help me out. They are the ones that help BioAnalytics continue to grow. I started the spark, and these innovators came to my side and propagated this innovative nature,” commented Smith. ”The knowledge that I have my buddies next to me -- brilliant scientists, engineers and businessmen excited to help solve a problem --  is all I can ask for.”

The recognition that comes with being a Lemelson Award finalist represents a confirmation that BioAnalytics has gotten off to an incredible start. For Smith, however, he views it as an opportunity to push BioAnalytics even further.

“With any luck, [being named a Lemelson finalist will help] bring in some really talented new individuals looking to contribute to this innovative company,” said Smith. “ [No matter how large we grow] we all share the goal of aligning our interests and getting some awesome technologies off the ground.”

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WRITER: Nick Lund

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Mike Koon, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-1256.