Innovation: USD Discovery District, Yoga, Vascular Disease, and Dr. K

The USD Discovery District is South Dakota’s first live-work-play innovation community, an 80-acre contemporary corporate and academic research park under development in northwest Sioux Falls. Its goal is to spur innovation-driven business through specialized facilities and an environment that fosters interaction between businesses, students, researchers and entrepreneurs. Rich Naser, President of the District and Executive Director of the Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship, gives Cara more details on the development.

Pierre native and USD med school graduate Wyatt O’Day worked as an emergency room physician in Sioux Falls and Rapid City. He had a log cabin in the Black Hills, fancy cars, … living the dream.

That all changed after a terrible accident. Wyatt abandoned his riches to live abroad and become a Yogi, teaching others to heal themselves through physical practice and meditation – but with a scientific twist. 

Sioux Falls researchers are employing light to open blood vessels. The FDA is green-lighting a trial that could help patients who suffer from peripheral vascular disease, a condition more than 8 million people live with. SDPB’s Kealey Bultena details the researchers' cutting-edge strategy and its potential.

USD Chemistry Professor Dr. Ranjit Koodali joins us to discuss the latest in research around the country. Dr. K is the Public Relations Chair of the Sioux Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. He provides regular collection of science articles and joins Innovation once a month to talk about what’s happening around the country.  Today, we discuss a 3D-Printed Evaporator for High-Efficiency Solar Steam Generation.