World's Top 10 Innovative Universities from Reuters

Reuters recently ranked the world's top universities for innovation 

Eight of top ten from the US

1. Stanford

Stanford photo US News & World Report

Not surprising, Stanford University, located on the SanFrancisco peninsula, is the number #1 ranked university for innovation. Over the course of its history, it has become the world's technology mecca. Because of this, it has attracted not only the top academic talent in the US but also the top tech talent.

Name any technology company in the US and chances are it bears some connection to Stanford. Either its academic research has spawned the innovation for new developments or an entrepreneur from there has created a new technology that changes the world. 

It may have all started with Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, two Stanford graduates in the 1930's who would team up to found Hewlett and Packard, a company that started by producing radios and eventually moved into computers.

The list of tech companies launched by Stanford graduates includes Google, Sun Micro Systems, Linkedin, Instagram, Snapchat, Paypal, Youtube, and Yahoo. 

2. MIT

MIT photo US News & World Report

Whether in a lab or from one of its graduates, we have MIT to thank for: the Internet, Email, early robots, GPS, the microchip, credit card e-commerce, the Kindle, digital cameras...and that is just a partial list.

3. Harvard

Well, Mark Zuckerberg went to Havard and founded Facebook. Being a stone's throw away from MIT may be a strong reason it is so high on the list. After Stanford and MIT, there is no other university that comes close. But Harvard is one of the most well-funded universities in the world. Lately, it has produced a biotech innovation that can record DNA information at the molecular level. It leads in advances in human exoskeletons and recently created a radio receiver the size of two atoms capable of broadcasting.

4. University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania photo US News & World Report

In 2017 University of Pennsylvania scientists concluded promising tests on a new single-dose Zika vaccine and identified a genetic target responsible for allowing host cells to defeat the Ebola virus. Researchers in Penn's Department of Biology identified a genetic target that regulates the creation of hairlike root structures in plants that increase surface area, leading to the greater absorption of water and other resources from the soil. Engineered crop plants with this trait are hardier and better withstand drought conditions.

5. KU Leuven Belgium

6. KAIST Korea

7. University of Washington

The University of Washington places seventh place overall on Reuters' ranking of the World's Most Innovative Universities but is the highest-ranked American public university on the list. Materials science and engineering researchers at UW recently developed a new way to quickly and cheaply create supercapacitors, devices that can store and deliver energy faster than conventional batteries. The new supercapacitors use a low-density carbon material called aerogel and have applications for use in a wide range of devices from electric cars to high-powered lasers.

8. University of Michigan System

The University of Michigan System places in the top 10 for the third consecutive year, in part due to strong relationships with corporate partners, and a high percentage of research articles that are funded by industry. Recent innovations developed at UMich include an inexpensive sensor which could alert residents and city officials to the presence of lead in their water. Other tests miss lead that leaches into water from pipes in a home, or can't identify sudden changes in water quality due to piping becoming corroded.

9. University of  Texas System

In 2017, the University of Texas at Arlington announced the creation of the Conrad Greer Lab, which will develop new methods of compress natural gas into high-grade diesel and jet fuel. That same year, the UT Austin campus dedicated Stampede2, the most powerful supercomputer at any US university. At the UT Dallas campus, researchers invented a non-invasive biomonitor for diabetes sufferers, that uses the glucose levels in sweat to track blood-sugar levels.

10. Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt photo US News & World Report

Vanderbilt University breaks into the top 10 for the first time, climbing from No. 20 in 2016 after seeing big increases in how often its patents are cited by other researchers around the globe. In one recent research highlight, a team of Vanderbilt University researchers unveiled 'smart underwear' that employs a series of straps to fight the development of back problems. Users can engage or disengage the support as needed, and when not engaged, the garment functions like normal clothing. Vanderbilt researchers have also developed circuit boards embedded with 'cotton candy' tangles of silver nanowire that dissolve when cooled.

http://www.businessinsider.com/tech-stars-who-graduated-from-stanford-2014-8#now-see-which-of-them-makes-the-most-18

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-amers-reuters-ranking-innovative-univ/reuters-top-100-the-worlds-most-innovative-universities-2017-idUSKCN1C209R

http://archive.boston.com/news/education/higher/specials/mit150/technology/?page=6