MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Budd Termin

BUFFALO, NY - University at Buffalo men's swimming and diving head coach Budd Termin was one of 42 faculty and researchers recognized at a Scholars, Inventors and Entrepreneurs Reception in UB's Center for Tomorrow on Thursday, May 26.

The annual reception honors the research and commercialization achievements of UB faculty members in the following categories: Licenses to Industrial Partners, U.S. Patents, Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering Technology (CAT), and Exceptional Scholars Awards. Termin was recognized along with Dr. David Pendergast, professor of physiology and biophysics, Dr. Joseph Mollendorf, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Robert Cuviello, formerly of UB, for developing a low drag swimsuit that was licensed to industrial partner TYR Sports, Inc. and worn by athletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The Scholars, Inventors and Entrepreneurs Reception was co-hosted by UB Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Satish K. Tripathi and Interim Vice President for Research Robert J. Genco, who is also vice provost and director of UB's Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR). STOR is the primary commercialization and technology transfer office of the University at Buffalo and has licensed or optioned to companies 40 technologies since 2000, including nine in 2004.

"It is the true innovative and intellectually creative work of faculty that defines the best of public research universities," said Tripathi at the reception. "Today, UB celebrates the scholarly excellence of our faculty and their critical contributions in ensuring the purpose of the public research university - the discovery, application, and transmission of new knowledge - is perpetuated, not only today, but throughout generations to come."

"What we see here are the result of the world-class scientists and researchers." Genco added. "It is their hard work and dedication to their field that puts UB on the map in both the academic world and within industry."

Swimming can be a difficult sport to simulate when conducting research, but UB's Center for Research and Education in Special Environments (CRESE) houses the world's only annular pool, opened in 1970. Since that time, Pendergast's research group has been studying swimming in the donut-shaped aquatic research tank, and members of UB's men's and women's swimming teams have acted as subjects in the research experiments. They have developed methods of quantitatively measuring swimming performance, including drag, the resistance of the water as a swimmer moves through it. Their research led to the development of the Aqua Shift swimsuits that reduce drag, allowing swimmers to use less energy and thus swim faster and farther. TYR calls their Aqua Shift suit the "most hydrodynamically efficient swimsuit on earth."

"This project was a model of teamwork between a number of departments here at the university on a world-class scale," said Termin. "The innovative methodology used in the design of these swimming suits has redefined the vocabulary of an Olympic sport. Professors, coaches and student-athletes - all from UB - worked together, and the final result was licensed technology transferred to industry that successfully competed at the Athens Olympic Games."

Athletes who wore the Aqua Shift suits at the 2004 Olympics included Yana Klochkova (gold medal in the 200 IM and 400 IM), Kristy Couventry (gold medal in the 200 backstroke, silver medal in the 100 backstroke) and Erik Vendt (silver medal in the 400 IM). To learn more about UB's testing center and the development of the Aqua Shift swimsuits, log on to www.tyr.com/science.html.