The Journey to Impact
The Journey to Impact features insights from BU Technology Development.
Technology Development helps 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.
Journey to Impact: New Resources, Events, and Opportunities
Here’s a misunderstood word: commercialization. The University of Pittsburgh offers a straightforward definition: “Commercialization is the process by which a new product or service is introduced into the general market.” That’s it. Too often, commercialization is misunderstood to mean “sales and marketing.” Those tasks are components of commercialization; they are not synonymous with the word. I suppose it’s because commerce is the root of commercialization so people’s minds go right to the transaction side of business (sales and marketing). More
Want Wider Recognition for Your Idea? Ignition Awards Offer More Than Funding
Let’s start by making one thing clear: the Ignition Awards are not your average grant awards. In fact, we don’t even think of them as grants. Why not? Well, traditional grants provide funding; not funding in addition to training workshops, network-building, and practitioner feedback. Other grants are given to recipients to help finance promising ideas, but with little or no interaction with experts in the very fields where those ideas could take hold! And more conventional grants may help pay for your research, but they don’t get you any closer to understanding how your idea can make an impact in the world; how it might be commercialized. More
The Journey to Impact: Collaborating with a Corporate Sponsor on Early Detection of Lung Cancer
A central goal for us here at BU’s Technology Development office is to equip our faculty and research community with the information you need when thinking about bringing research to market. As such, we aim to share the variety of pathways that can be taken to secure backing and support... More
The Journey to Impact: How to Filter “Expert” Advice
We are surrounded by the media, startup challenges, business competitions, presentations from “experts,” panels, business books, articles with advice and so on—all determined to help us bring our ideas to market, start a company, make money and MORE. More
Tackling Substandard Healthcare in Underserved Communities
Today we feature the work of Dr. Muhammad Zaman, professor of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Boston University's College of Engineering, and his team. More
The Journey to Impact: People Over Ideas
We have an over-tendency to talk about ideas—cool ideas, and then prematurely label them innovative or disruptive. But when you think about change and impact, think about the people behind the ideas. More
The Journey to Impact: Common Questions from BU Researchers
I interviewed eight PIs who presented at The Innovator’s Journey: Embracing Creativity & Discomfort in Pursuit of Impact. More
The Journey to Impact: An Inventor Walks into a Bar…
Here’s one for you: An inventor, a patent holder and a company founder walk into a bar…and the bartender says, “Who’s paying?” More