CSE professor launches University of Minnesota’s 301st spin-off

Professor Jian Ping-Wang seeks to address AI energy crisis   

University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering (CSE) Professor Jian-Ping Wang knows the difference technology commercialization support can make. A prolific inventor with 118 patents, Wang has founded multiple companies with expertise from the University of Minnesota Venture Center.

“We are in the business of translation: moving life-saving therapies to the bedside, protecting our ecosystems, and transforming the tools farmers have to feed the world,” said Angie Conley, director of the Venture Center, located within the University’s Technology Commercialization office.

Recently, Wang, who holds CSE Robert F. Hartmann endowed chair, launched the University of Minnesota’s 301st spin-off.

Called BesiMax AI Inc., the company seeks to address the energy crisis caused by the recent booming of artificial intelligence (AI) applications using the patented technology, computational random-access memory (CRAM). 

CRAM hardware turns memory into processors and allows data to be processed entirely within a memory array, removing the “memory bottleneck,” an urgent challenge for today’s AI and intelligent systems. 

Wang and his team of College of Science and Engineering researchers demonstrated in a study that CRAM could potentially reduce AI energy consumption by a factor of 1,000.

Innovation that leads to jobs

Last fall, another one of Wang's startup made headlines. 

Niron Magnetics, Inc. which uses commonly found materials that can be sourced sustainably to create permanent magnets, broke ground on a 190,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Sartell, Minn.—creating up to 200 manufacturing jobs. 

The University ranks third among all U.S. public universities for startup creation.

"At the University of Minnesota, we know that breakthrough discoveries only reach their full potential if they move from the lab to the market and into people’s lives,” said Joanne Billings, University of Minnesota interim vice president for research and innovation. 

With BesiMax AI Inc., Wang's latest company, the University surpassed 300 startups since 2006. Those companies have generated more than $3.5 billion in investment capital and created over 1,500 jobs. 

“This 300-startup milestone proves the University is a national leader in successfully bridging the gap between scientific discovery and the marketplace," Billings said. "More than 70% of the spin-offs generated by the University stay in Minnesota, benefitting our local economies, creating jobs and improving lives."

Meet eight startups that began in our college in Inventing Tomorrow magazine, Winter 2025-26: "When brilliant people get an idea, big things happen."