B-30, Princeton 08540. Ed McLaughlin, president and CEO. 609-720-1818;

fax, 609-720-1819. Home page: http://www.paytrust.com. (U.S.

1, August 25, 1999).

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Three Patents For Universal Display

A flexible laptop computer screen that is easy to read

in bright light. A solar panel that produces even more energy from

sunlight. These are some of the commercial applications of technology

developed by Princeton University professors and Universal Display

Corporation that secured patents this week.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just issued three patents to

Princeton University as part of the Organic Light Emitter Project,

a joint effort between professors at Princeton, researchers at the

University of Southern California, and Universal Display Corporation

at 375 Phillips Drive. This brings the number of patents issued to

the company on this project up to 18.

A technology that makes electronic displays easily readable in bright

light is the first patent. The "High Contrast Transparent Organic

Light-Emitting Device Display," as it is called, involves

integrating

a black background into the display to increase the contrast ratio.

The second patent secured by the company involves a new process for

creating "Organic Light-Emitting Devices," or displays. The

displays are created by applying layer-upon-layer of carbon-based

molecules. Researchers, however, discovered a process that would

reduce

damage to the layers beneath the one being grown, thus speeding up

the fabrication process of the displays. It’s called "Method for

Depositing Indium Tint Oxide Layers in Organic Light Emitting

Devices"

The third patent is for a process of applying an organic film over

light detectors, which researchers discovered increases the efficiency

of those detector. The technology could be used in solar cells, for

example, where sunlight is converted into energy. Theoretically, the

application of the film would cause more energy to output from the

same amount of sunlight. It’s called "Organic Luminescent Coating

for Light Detectors."

Although none of the new technologies have been licensed to a

manufacturer,

Universal Display did sign a letter of intent with Luxell Corporation

in Canada, a custom-display house for high contrast display, for the

"high-contrast" technology.

Steve Abramson, CEO of Universal Display, foresees plenty of

opportunity

in this electronic display industry. "The flat panel display

industry

is about a $16 billion a year industry," he says, "and the

industry in general is looking for a cell phone or a portable

electronic

device that is legible in sunlight" (U.S. 1, February 25, 1998).

The company leased a 11,000 square foot building in Ewing, which will

serve as a development center, a technology transfer center, and a

pilot line facility to scale up the processes for this technology.

A grand opening is scheduled for Friday, December 10, 2 to 4 p.m.,

by invitation only. Abramson expects initial commercial prototypes

to be out by next year.

Phillips Bouvevard, Ewing 08618. Steven Abramson, COO. 609-671-0980;

fax, 609-671-0995. Home page: http://www.universaldisplay.com.

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New CRO in Town: ABR

Another clinical research organization (CRO) has moved

to Princeton to be in the heart of the "pharmacorridor,"

defined

as northern New Jersey to Wilmington, Delaware. Advanced Biomedical

Research aims to expand its space in a permanent location. The

clinical

research center for Phase I studies remains in Hackensack.

Founded in 1994 by Michael Willitt, the firm’s clients range from

the largest pharmaceuticals to small biotechs. It can do Phase II

to Phase IV studies on an outpatient basis, do Phase III management,

medical writing, regulatory submissions, clinical trial reports, and

manuscripts.

The son of an electrical engineer for Bell Labs, Willitt is married

and has three school-aged children. He earned a pharmacy degree at

the University of Illinois, Class of 1984, his PharmD degree in 1986.

After doing a residency in Kansas City he worked at a community

hospital

in Greensboro, North Carolina, then returned to Missouri for a job

at what is now Hoechst Marion Roussel, where he worked on internal

clinical trials. He worked on Phase III and IV trials at Bristol-Myers

Squibb. In 1992 he moved to a CRO in north Jersey, Health and Sciences

Research. When that company was sold off he started his own firm in

the same location.

What distinguishes his firm, Willitt says, is that it is a

scientifically

driven organization; it eschews templates, and includes "a fair

amount of insight" into its reports.

Road, Princeton 08540. Michael Willitt, director of pharmacokinetics

and medical writing. 609-514-4422; fax, 609-514-4466. Home page:

http://www.abr-pharma.com.

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Expansions: Novaflux

If cleanliness is close to godliness, then you might

call Novaflux Technologies the angel of the medical industry. The

company, a product division of Princeton Trade & Technology at 1 Wall

Street, is the result of research on a new method for cleaning medical

instruments — specifically, medical tubing.

"To put it simply," says a company spokesperson, "we’re

able to clean really small tubes, really well." For a business

idea, it’s not sexy or dramatic, but if you’ve ever tried to clean

out a straw you can appreciate the genius in it. The tubes that

Novaflux

cleans are even smaller — as small 200 microns (or one-fifth of

a millimeter) — and they are routinely used in dental offices

and hemodialysis centers, where sterilization is paramount.

"I think we are deemed by several people in the industry to have

the best solution," says Mohamed E. Labib, president and founder

of Princeton Trade & Technology. The sterilization technology involves

a two-phase cleaning process that mixes both liquid and gas to rid

the equipment of organic bacterial slime, or biofilm. Rather than

use a toxic and corrosive biocide to directly kill the bacteria, the

company uses a surfactant, a non-toxic chemical that breaks up the

organic material stuck to the surface of the tubing, to create a

sterile

atmosphere. The company claims to be able to complete the process

in about three minutes.

Prior to starting Princeton Trade & Technology, Labib worked for 14

years at RCA Laboratories and the Sarnoff Corporation as a member

of the technical staff. He has a BS in chemistry and geology from

Alexandria University, Class of 1967, as well as a PhD from McGill

and an MBA from Monmouth University.

So far, Labib has found three different applications, and at least

as many interested customers, for Novaflux’s process. The most

promising,

so far, has been in cleaning up modern dentistry.

Novaflux has had a contract with the United States Air Force since

1997, and with the Navy since 1998, to engineer a new approach to

removing biofilm in dental unit waterlines. The imperative to clean

the dirty water came right from the American Dental Association, says

Labib. "When you go to the dentist biofilm grows on the lines,

and the count is measured in bacteria is something like 1 to 10

million

colony forming units," he says. "The ADA doesn’t want to see

any more than 200." Labib says that the company is in the final

stages of negotiating an agreement with a major manufacturer of dental

units for the Novaflux process.

Novaflux’s technology is also being applied to the cleaning of

endoscopes,

hemodialyzers, and equipment used in water treatment plants. For

hemodialysis,

where the tubing pumps fluid directly into the body, the Novaflux

technology may be a real godsend. Earlier this year, the National

Institutes of Health contracted with Novaflux to find a way to remove

rogue blood cells proteins from hemodialyzers.

— Melinda Sherwood

Princeton

08540. M.E. Labib, president. 609-683-0215; fax, 609-683-5003. Home

page: http://www.novaflux.com.

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Start-Ups: New Media Partners

1375, Plainsboro 08536. Gary LaSasso, president. 609-799-8700; fax,

609-799-8840. Home page: http://www.nmpartners.net.

This company focuses on cost effective multimedia

presentations

complete with animation and interactivity. A native of Hammonton,

Gary LaSasso was a communications major at Rutgers, Class of 1987,

and worked for a business to business communications company in

Liberty

Corner as a project manager, doing everything from brochures to

producing

meetings. He and Michael Gallagher, with whom he had worked at two

previous companies (Speaker Support Group and Visual Media), founded

the firm this year.

The partners recently returned from an asthma conference in Copenhagen

where, for a major pharmaceutical, they coordinated a presentation

based on audience response polls. Their major clients are in the

pharmaceutical

and financial areas and include Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merrill Lynch,

Merck, and Bell Atlantic.

Kingston

08528-0407. Lucille Conti, business manager. 609-921-2900; fax,

609-924-2536.

The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy has opened at the New

School for Music Study, and the New School will continue as an

experimental

laboratory to do research in music education at the keyboard and as

a year-round community music school.

The late Frances Clark, a leader in piano pedagogy, applied her

methods

applied to all levels, from beginners to concert artists. The center

will be the first organization created exclusively to make independent

inquiry into why some students succeed at music study (and others

fail), why some published materials are more effective than others,

and what is the most appropriate way to teach future keyboard

teachers.

The center will develop, test, and disseminate new applications of

her philosophy. Louise Goss, co-founder of the New School for Music

Study, will chair the board.

Top Of Page
Name Changes: Robert Powell

Princeton 08540. Robert S. Powell Jr., principal. 609-430-9700; fax,

609-466-4164.

Arete Capital Advisors LLC has changed its name and added a partner,

Michael Schonberger. Schonberger majored in marketing at Pace, Class

of 1984, has a master’s degree in finance from New York University,

and a law degree from Rutgers law school. As a commercial mortgage

broker he worked for Dorman & Wilson (now Legg Mason Real Estate

Services)

in Parsippany and in Manhattan for Ackman Ziff Real Estate Group.

He teaches at Rutgers and specializes in real estate mortgage banking

and investment sales.

Powell founded this firm after leaving DKM, where he had been in

charge

of DKM’s development activities (U.S. 1 April 9, 1997) and is working

on deals concerning the proposed hotel for downtown Trenton. The firm

provides financial services to the real estate industry including

investment sales, economic development incentives, and public/private

development projects. It is not associated with Nassau Capital LLC,

the Chambers Street-based firm that manages Princeton University’s

alternative asset investments.

Boulevard,

Suite 206, Princeton 08540. Kenneth Kamen, president. 609-987-0500;

fax, 609-987-1715.

This full-service broker, a market maker in over-the-counter stocks,

has been acquired by Kirlin Holding, based in Syosset, Long Island

(800-899-9400). The deal was announced in November and is waiting

for regulatory approval.

"We really like what Kirlin is doing and it made strategic

sense,"

says Kamen. "In line with a lot of the consolidation in the

financial

industry, we wanted to link up with a larger organization with more

in-house capabilities."

Top Of Page
Deaths

Institute for Advanced Study.

supervisor at Princeton University.

University physicist, known for his work in the field of elementary

particle physics.

Division of Youth and Family Services, she was also an artist whose

work was frequently exhibited, most recently at the State Museum.

Corrections or additions?

— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.