It would, of course, be criminal to pass through the mid-US without mentioning the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the technology transfer unit of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the biggest university in the state and one of the two main research institutions (the other being University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).
One of the oldest – if not the oldest – technology transfer organisations in existence, WARF can trace its roots back to 1925. The unit was founded by Harry Steenbock, a professor at the university, who invented the process for using ultraviolet radiation to add vitamin D to food – most notably milk. After testing the process on rodent food, he found the rodents were cured of rickets, a bone softening disease which we now know to be caused by a lack of vitamin D. Rather than leaving the process unpatented, which was common practice at the time for university innovations, Steenbock patented it with his own money.
