BU Innovator of the Year’s Advice for Aspiring Academic Entrepreneurs? Start by Listening
Dr. Selim Ünlü, Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ENG), was named 2021 BU Innovator of the Year for his pioneering work developing devices and technologies that help find security flaws in the construction of computer chips and detect viral pathogens in medical samples. Ünlü holds 18 patents and has helped launch three companies, all […]
The Journey to Impact: Researching the Power of Molecules to Drive Life
Many of our researchers and faculty at BU are doing work to make real change in the world. As part of our series of discussions with faculty innovators, I speak with Professor Ji-Xin Cheng, Moustakas Chair Professor in Photonics and Optoelectronics and Professor of Biomedical Engineering (ENG). Professor Cheng’s research pursues a wide range of topics, including […]
The Lab to Market Transition: Lessons from Faculty, Students, and Research Staff
In February, the Office of Research hosted an event called The Lab to Market Transition: Lessons from Faculty, Students, and Other Research Staff. The event highlighted scenarios in which post grads spun out companies with the technology they worked on in their PI’s lab. We had four spinout guests, at different stages of maturity, with […]
The Journey to Impact: Gene Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease
Many of our researchers and faculty at BU are doing work to make real change in the world. As part of our series of discussions with faculty innovators, I speak with Professor Victoria Bolotina at the School of Medicine, who is working to halt the progression of Parkinson’s Disease, the progressive neurodegenerative disease that currently […]
The Journey to Impact: Funding to Consider: SBIR Grants
As part of our ongoing work to inform this community about potential pathways to commercialize ideas and inventions, today I’m writing about SBIR grants. SBIR stands for Small Business Innovation Research. This program is government-sponsored and supports the research and development of inventions and future products across the United States. The reason to consider this […]
The Journey to Impact: Extending Care and Therapy for Stroke Patients
As part of our series of discussions with faculty innovators, I speak with Professor Swathi Kiran, James and Cecilia Tse Ying Professor of Neurorehabilitation, Sargent College. Professor Kiraan has led a successful journey from research to the creation of a company that helps people build back cognitive, speech, and language abilities after having a stroke. […]
The Innovator’s Quarterly: How BU’s NEIDL Increased Industry Support Fourfold
November 2021 | News from BU Industry Engagement and Technology Development Spotlight Microbiologist Robert Davey and his team research the novel coronavirus wearing full biocontainment suits in the highest possible containment setting, the Biosafety Level 4 lab at BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL). How BU’s NEIDL Increased Industry Support Four-Fold In 2020, NEIDL […]
Journey to Impact: Advice and Entrepreneurship
An entrepreneur friend called me recently to ask for my advice. She started a company two years ago, on her own. It’s growing, fast. She needs cash to meet demand. She found a group of Angel investors, knowledgeable in her field and wanting to invest $XXX,000. They want YY% of the company, but she wants to give away only ZZ% of the company (where Z
The Journey to Impact: SRAs and Commercialization have a Misrepresented Relationship
Rana K. Gupta formerly served as director of faculty entrepreneurship at Boston University. He helped BU researchers bring technology and other research breakthroughs to the marketplace to increase their impact through programs and workshops, one-on-one consulting with faculty, educational resources, and community building among BU innovators. Conventional thought is that once a researcher has engaged […]
The Journey to Impact: Equity Investors and Updates
This fall we launched a new program titled “Invasion of the Equity Investors.” I specifically named the investors “equity investors” to ensure there’s no mistake about the nature of the transaction in the offing. Equity investors (Angels and venture capitalists) purchase shares in your company in return for cash. The ‘”invasion” was chosen to attract attention, or perhaps make you smile. They are one source of funding. There are many, many additional and alternative forms of funding besides equity (click here for a posted presentation on the subject), but that’s a conversation for another day. We had three investors scheduled thus far this semester. One more will listen to pitches on November 4. We’ll be inviting more next semester.