UCF ranks 3rd in patent strength

     The University of Central Florida ranks third in the nation for the strength and impact of its patents, according to recent rankings released by IEEE, the world’s leading association for the advancement of technology. UCF moved up from seventh place last year in the rankings. No other Florida university made either list.
      The rankings illustrate the strength of patents issued at UCF and the potential they hold for positively impacting the local and state economies, said M.J. Soileau, vice president for Research and Commercialization at UCF.
   “With the help of our partners, UCF is strategically focusing on the technical areas needed to support and lure viable technological industry to our state,” he said. “By hiring some of the best faculty in the world, we have built some of the nation’s strongest concentrations of intellectual capital in lasers and optics, simulation and training, computer sciences, solar energy, nanoscience, materials and now biomedical sciences right here in Central Florida.”
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    The total “power” ranking of UCF’s patents rose more than 200 points in the 2010 list, from 242 in the 2009 list to 458, placing it ahead of such prestigious research institutions as the University of Washington, the California Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
     The University of Texas leads the list, and the University of California is second.