Purdue Faculty Help Peers Strategically Move Innovations to Public

June 5, 2015 | By Business Wire News

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.

With a record-breaking 24 startups in 2014 that tripled the previous year’s numbers, Purdue University faculty are leaders in technology translation.

This growth trend also is reflected in other substantive increases in commercialization activities including 156 U.S. and global issued patents through the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, representing a more than 30 percent increase over the previous year.

One secret to this success is that Purdue faculty are helping each other strategically move innovations to the public, where these technologies can positively impact our global society.

The translational program called “Deliberate Innovation for Faculty” is led by faculty leaders from different disciplines at Purdue who have successfully founded one or more startups from their research.

“It’s a new type of mentoring program where faculty entrepreneurs look at faculty and graduate student research in its early stages and review the potential market value of the innovations so they can help prepare a strategic plan to commercialize their work,” said Lonnie Bentley, a professor in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute and the most recent of seven faculty DIFF leaders.

The program is led by the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and jointly supported by Purdue Research Foundation, Purdue Foundry, Discovery Park, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, the College of Engineering, Krannert School of Management, College of Agriculture and the College of Veterinary Medicine.

“This program not only allows faculty to help other faculty, but the experiences they gain from moving an innovation to commercialization also can enrich Purdue’s academic goals,” said Gary Bertoline, dean of the Purdue Polytechnic Institute.

Cliff Wojtalewicz, managing director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship in Purdue’s Discovery Park, helps direct the program.

“As a land-grant institution Purdue has an obligation to explore new areas of tech transfer opportunities and to identify innovations with strong commercialization potential. This is something we take very seriously and Deliberate Innovation for Faculty helps us do that,” Wojtalewicz said. “DIFF Directors also lead a transformational program within their academic expertise.”

In addition to Bentley, the faculty directors of the Deliberate Innovation for Faculty program and their respective areas of expertise are:

* J. Eric Dietz, director of the Purdue Homeland Security Institute and professor of computer and information technology, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, defense and homeland security.

* Cliff Johnston, professor of soil chemistry and mineralogy and director of enhanced oil recovery at Purdue, College of Agriculture, oil and gas and environmental sustainability.

* Matthew Lynall, clinical associate professor, Krannert School of Management, strategic management and experiential learning in entrepreneurship.

* Ernesto Marinero, professor of engineering practice, schools of Chemical and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, nano manufacturing and nano materials.

* Alyssa Panitch, Leslie A. Geddes Professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, life sciences and biomedical engineering.

* Riyi Shi, professor of neurosciences, colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Engineering, neurosciences and basic medical sciences.