From Lab to Fab: How Analog Devices is Experimenting with a New Family of Products at BU
BY GARY RIVLIN Mohamed Azize, a biomedical engineer and a senior manager at Analog Devices, the giant chip maker, had an idea for a new biomedical sensor that would improve home-testing for viruses. And he knew exactly where he wanted to set up a laboratory. In 2009, Azize had visited the Boston... More
The Journey to Impact: Inventor’s Dilemma
OK, here’s Part II of one (of many) dilemma(s) inventors face. The scenario: while talking with a corporation about your invention (discovery) they ask, “how does it work?” Last month I addressed the larger context of the conversation. I offered (I hope) a perspective about the nature of the conversation and the... More
The Journey to Impact: News from the Front Line
We recently announced the nine BU researchers who won 2022 Ignition Awards, one-year grants of up to $75,000 to help launch promising new ideas into the marketplace. This annual, University-wide recognition of progress towards innovation always makes me reflect on the lack of fanfare for similar milestones from the dozens... More
The Journey to Impact: Putting Conversations into Context
Here’s a challenge all inventors face. The scenario: While talking with a corporation about your invention, they ask, “How does it work?” The prep meeting between the researcher and me goes something like this: Researcher: And then they’ll ask, "How does it work?" and what do I say? Rana: Well, for starters, you don’t... More
The Journey to Impact: A Passion for Helping AKI Patients
An interview with Steven C. Borkan, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at BU, and Attending Physician at Boston Medical Center. The following discussion with Dr. Steven C. Broken took place at our BU Innovator of the Year Award event — where he explained his focus on treating acute kidney injury, his... More
The Journey to Impact: Watch Your Language
Are you working on an idea to impact a customer, audience, or market? (Since we have policy people in the audience whose “market” is the government, let’s define “market" as the audience you wish to adopt your idea.) Whether you plan to start a company, license to a third party, or... More
The Journey to Impact: Faculty Entrepreneurship Case Study, Passport Systems
Following is a brief case study on Passport Systems, an MIT spinout which had to shut its doors in 2020 after a nearly 20 years’ effort and $100M invested. I wrote this case study with the assistance of Dr. Gordon Baty, a former colleague who was Chairman and Co-Founder... More
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... More
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... More
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... More