Making SUNY the Best Place for Innovators
At SUNY campuses across New York state, inventors and entrepreneurs are tackling the world’s most pressing problems. The recently announced SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF) recipients demonstrate the broad scope of that groundbreaking innovation – from treating serious illnesses and safeguarding the environment to strengthening New York’s high-tech electronics industry.
Moving novel technologies such as these from the bench to the market is a journey that varies in length and complexity depending on the nature of the innovation, the need it is addressing, and its technology readiness level. The SUNY Research Foundation’s Office of Industry and External Affairs (I&EA) is a high-performance team with complementary skills and backgrounds that guides inventors along the path to commercialization. Expertise spans Intellectual Property (IP) protection, business development, legal matters, marketing communications and startup creation to provide comprehensive technology transfer and commercialization support to innovators at 28 SUNY locations.
Reasons for seeking to commercialize a technology are unique to each inventor and may include meeting contractual obligations, generating funding for a lab or department, attracting sponsors, or producing personal income through royalties. The overall goal and end game, however, is always to make a positive impact on society.
Innovations and intellectual property can take many forms, such as algorithms, software code, novel manufacturing processes and databased. Similarly, while patents are most common, IP protection includes copyrights, know-how, and even trademarks. “The I&EA team supports all types of intellectual property,” explained I&EA Vice President Nicholas Querques. “It’s never too early to connect with us to discuss an innovation and start exploring a commercialization plan.”
There are two ways to start the process: 1. submit a disclosure via the Inventor Portal or 2. contact the I&EA team directly. The team’s IP and licensing professionals conduct regular campus visits to keep apprised of faculty research and innovative work. That outreach has led to a 22% increase in the number of technologies entering the commercialization pipeline over the past fiscal year.
Once engaged with an inventor, the I&EA team will figure out how best to protect the IP, e.g., apply for a patent or copyright, and conduct a market assessment to identify where there’s commercial potential. They will also connect the inventor to SUNY’s portfolio of technology-to- market programs. These include SUNY Startup Summer School (S4), a virtual entrepreneurial education, training, and mentoring program; the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF), which provides early-stage investments to improve market readiness; and other services that offer professional new venture, proposal development, and design and marketing assistance.
As a winner of the S4 Class of 2022 Demo Day, SupreMEtric CEO Alexis Weber received a $25,000 SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund Catalyst Investment. The award, which included follow-on support from SUNY Startup Grant Works to identify and write strong proposals for grant funding to continue commercializing the technology, provided a strong foundation for SupreMEtric’s successful NSF Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II application. The $1 million grant is being used to advance the commercialization of SupreMEtric’s novel technology, which combines Raman spectroscopy and advanced statistics to identify body fluid traces at crime scenes.
Inspired by a passion for data security and privacy protection, SUNY Canton Associate Professor Kambiz Ghazinour created a game-based learning platform that teaches individuals to mitigate security threats online. Ghazinour was among the first to apply for the full suite of technology-to-market programs. Using lessons learned at S4, he launched a startup, CyberSpara. A 2022 TAF investment allowed him to further develop the platform and raise the total outside funding to more than $440,000. “The ‘A’ in TAF stands for accelerator and this investment, combined with the other grants we’ve received to improve our platform, put the development of our product 4-5 months ahead of schedule,” Ghazinour said.
SUNY TechConnect is the central source of information about technologies available for licensing and startups across the SUNY system. The easy-to-use platform allows users to browse by campus, category, keyword, and inventor. It includes a subscription option for fully customizable email alerts.
The I&EA team actively seeks opportunities to showcase inventors, pitch their innovations to potential industry partners, and compete for funding at statewide and national conferences and events such as the BIO International Convention, FuzeHub and New York State Business Plan Competition, and the 25th annual TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C., where eight SUNY entrepreneurs were selected to present their inventions to a global audience of industry end users and technology scouts.
Ji Ung Lee, University at Albany Professor and Founder of RadBOX Semi, said the international event was "the perfect conference to promote your spin-off technology." Adam Morgan, Senior Research Scientist at the University at Albany and CEO of NoMIS Power, highlighted NoMIS' pitch of next-generation SiC technology, which drew industry interest for its dual-use applications in defense and EV power controllers. "We received insightful questions about our technology and business model," Morgan noted, adding that NoMIS is now exploring potential partnerships from TechConnect World to advance their company and innovations.”
Connect with the I&EA team.