25-05-2025
How BYU helps students innovate new technological patents
From medical devices to technological innovations, BYU's latest accomplishment highlights the number of students inventing new products.
BYU was ranked among the Top 100 universities in the nation for most patents issued by the National Academy of Inventors. What's especially unique about this title, however, is how many of the patents have students listed as co-inventors, the university said.
'When more than half of our U.S. patents list a student alongside a professor, that's campus, with our student-mentoring focus, turning into a launchpad for invention,' BYU Technology Transfer director Dave Brown said. 'BYU is building inventors who can serve the world by solving real-life challenges.'
Only about 10% to 20% of patents nationally include student inventors. But 10 of the 18 patents issued in 2024 at BYU had students as the inventor or co-inventor, which is 'very unusual … in a good way,' Brown said.
'BYU is in a very select group — fewer than a dozen U.S. institutions — where student inventors appear on a majority of issued patents,' Brown said. 'Making the (National Academy of Inventors) Top 100 ranking shows that BYU is succeeding at training the next generation.'
Some BYU student co-inventors were listed on multiple patents: Jacob Sheffield and Lance Hyatt were named on four, and Kendall Seymour and Scott Cunnington were listed on three each.
Sheffield graduated from BYU a few years ago, but four of the products he refined in graduate school received patents last year. Sheffield's career path has been defined by what he was able to create at BYU. His startup, Bloom Surgical, depends on tech he developed in school.
'As an undergraduate, I did research that led to some patents. Then, as part of my graduate degree, I worked on refining that technology, which led into a commercializable opportunity for me to go outside the university and create a startup with it and then license that technology back to myself,' he said.
The patents issued were on deployable origami-based mechanisms for medical devices. One of these mechanisms is used as a "miniature windshield wiper" to keep a laparoscope clean while doctors examine inside the body.
The technologies he innovated rose from the environment and resources he was given in school. Sheffield attributes innovation to his experience in one of BYU's research labs.
As an undergrad, Sheffield was given autonomy to research and explore creative outlets like graduate students usually do. Then, as a graduate, he was able to continue that exploration in ways that doctoral students normally experience.
'That innovation comes from the top down and that idea of inventorship. There very much was a culture of innovation and being a part of that. Also, there's a big level of trust,' he said.
Having the freedom to explore new ideas and work with people across various disciplines was instrumental in his learning and is what makes it so common for BYU students to develop tech for patents, he said.
Sheffield also emphasized the various business and innovation competitions held at BYU as reasons for his success. The Entrepreneur of the Year and Student Innovator of the Year awards helped him see the business side of innovation.
'Being able to do that side of business and marketing, and see how different products could have an impact in different industries, that allowed on the research side, to see a better application and impact for how research can be transformed into tangible ideas or inventions that could be useful,' he said.
Other technological inventions for which BYU students hold patents include artificial vertebral endplates, electromagnetic trap multiplexing, an integrated cleaning device for optical instruments, and multistage stent devices.
The University of Utah and Utah State University also made the Top 100 with 37 and 16 patents, respectively.
