West Virginia Executive Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 82

Morgantown Biotech Firm
Accepted into Prestigious
SkyDeck Accelerator Program
Morgantown-based biotechnology firm
IstoVisio Inc., developer of scientific data
visualization and annotation system sy-
Glass, announced it has been accepted into
the prestigious University of California at
Berkeley SkyDeck Accelerator program. The
company is one of 26 firms to be accepted
into the program out of 1,600 applicants.
IstoVisio will receive a $100,000 investment
from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, be
paired with key advisers, go through the
six-month Berkeley Acceleration Method
Program and receive guided access to the
SkyDeck community, including Silicon
Valley investors and venture funds. Since
2012, companies affiliated with SkyDeck
have raised $1.2 billion.
“This is a major step forward for our
company and a validation of our syGlass
system, which is a technology that allows
massive images to be viewed in high-res
virtual reality (VR),” says IstoVisio CEO
Michael Morehead. “syGlass allows users
to view 3D image stacks, like CT, MR and
PET scans, inside of an immersive virtual
reality environment. Inside of syGlass,
these scans are stacked up to represent
the original 3D object and appear as a
hologram to the user. Exploring this data
in VR allows new insights previously
unseen on 2D monitors.”
The syGlass technology is now used
in more than 100 international research
institutions, including Harvard, Johns
Hopkins, Institute de la Vision in Paris
and multiple Max Planck institutions.
Toyota Rolls First Hybrid
Transaxle Off Production Line
After more than two years of dedicated
preparation, Toyota Motor Manufacturing
West Virginia (TMMWV) recently
produced Toyota’s first hybrid transaxle
in North America.
“Our team has been planning for this
new production line for several years, from
construction to pilot projects to hiring
new employees and countless hours of
training,” says TMMWV President Srini
Matam. “Our team members’ dedication
to the work they do every day is what
makes our products world-class, and we
are grateful for the continued support
of our parent company, Toyota Motor
Corporation.”
An initial $113 million investment was
announced in late 2017 for TMMWV
to produce 120,000 hybrid transaxles
annually, which replaces the conventional
transmission in hybrid vehicles. The transaxles,
built for the Toyota Sienna and
Highlander hybrid vehicles, change their
power input with either electric power or
an internal combustion engine, depending
on driving conditions, to achieve the best
fuel economy. During the construction,
which included a 72,000-square-foot
80
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE