Collegiate Times

To get an idea of how a typical computer processor functions, picture a car speeding 300 miles an hour across town but hitting every red light along the way.

At each light the car sits, wasting valuable fuel. Likewise, typical computers put energy into every program opened, even those that aren't being used.

Now picture a car that could automatically predict when the lights would change. A car that intelligently sets its speed so that it hits no red lights, wasting no fuel in the process. With EcoDaemon, Virginia Tech researchers may have invented that type of "car."

Invented by Tech computer science professor Wu-Chun Feng, along with Ph.D. candidate Song Huang, EcoDaemon's ability to both save energy and cut back on the environmental impact of computers helped it win the Southeastern Research Association's first annual IP-to-market competition.

This revolutionary computer software is able to conserve energy on virtually anything containing a processor, from laptops, to cell phones, to computing devices in cars.

"The system is able to intelligently preset power modes for each application running on your computer," Huang said. "This allows you to run a certain program using only the power you need for that program."

When applied to a typical 40-megawatt data center, EcoDaemon can save a company an estimated $30 million in energy costs per year.

If EcoDaemon were implemented internationally, energy savings could reach nearly $60 billion dollars a year by 2009, according to the researchers.  By reducing the computer's core temperature, the software diminishes the impact the computer has on the environment.

"Typically, when people think about being green, they see it as costing money," Feng said. "EcoDaemon contradicts this belief; it's so effective because it is able to save energy, as well as money."  

By competing in the SURA IP-to-market competition, university research such as EcoDaemon can be brought into the limelight and noticed by businesses throughout the nation.

"There is a lot of useful research going on in universities out there that goes unnoticed. This type of competition allows intellectual properties to be brought into a commercial market," Feng said.

Although currently owned by Tech, the notoriety EcoDaemon received at SURA has caused a stir in the market, and several companies are looking to seek out rights to the EcoDaemon properties.

One company atop the list of potential buyers is EnergyWare, run by Tech alumnus Bob Summers. It's interested in commercializing EcoDaemon in order to help solve the growing world energy crisis.