The Innovator’s Quarterly: Move Your Research into the World

May 2021 | News from BU Industry Engagement and Technology Development

Spotlight

Red Hat has announced a renewed and expanded commitment of $20 million to support BU research through the Red Hat Collaboratory at BU’s Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering.

BU and Red Hat Extend and Expand Partnership for Cloud Research
On Tuesday, April 27, Boston University and Red Hat announced they were extending their five-year partnership, launched in 2017, for another five years. The expanded commitment includes software subscriptions valued at over half a billion dollars and a $20 million grant. The Red Hat Collaboratory at BU’s Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering aims to advance research and education focused on open-source software and emerging technologies, including through sponsorship of research projects led by collaborative teams from BU and Red Hat. Learn more.

Hooray for Hariri! Now how do I get industry to fund my research?
What’s industry looking for in a collaboration with academic researchers? Is industry collaboration right for your work? Check out this primer to learn the basics of working with industry, and how to build a win-win partnership to advance your research.

Expert Advice

Build your innovation toolkit with information and resources from BU and industry experts, as well as researchers who’ve successfully navigated the path to impact.

The Innovator’s Journey: Embracing Creativity & Discomfort
In this series of lightning talks, faculty innovators from across BU shared their diverse paths from invention to market to impact. Watch now.

Common Questions from Faculty Innovators, Answered
How do you get an idea into the hands of the people it could help? What’s the difference between an invention and an innovation? BU’s Director of Faculty Entrepreneurship answers questions received from The Innovator’s Journey audience in his latest blog post.

Plus:

Take Action

We offer programs to help you actively advance your idea in the marketplace. Browse highlights below, and the full list on our Learning Paths & Programs page.

Solve Adoption First
This tutorial sheds light on what an idea or technology requires to succeed in the marketplace.

Catalyst Program
In this program, a group of students conducts customer interviews for the investigator to shed light on user needs.

Spark Program
This NSF-funded program requires that you conduct 12 customer interviews, teaching PIs to listen rather than sell.

Fusion Program
A follow-up to Spark, this NSF-funded program allows the inventor to conduct 12 more customer interviews.

Quarterly Impact Report

The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) and the School of Medicine led the way on industry-funded research awards this quarter, with 56% and 21% of BU industry awards, respectively. Download the full report to view other schools.

The College of Engineering led the way on invention activity this quarter, with 71% of new invention disclosures, 75% of new provisional patent applications, 56% of US non-provisional applications, and 58% of US-issued patents.

Visit the Research Support website to download full reports.

    Meet Our Team

        Marc Scatamacchia

        Team: Industry Engagement

        Title: Associate Vice President

        What I Do: I help BU researchers collaborate with industry to move their ideas into the world to benefit society.

        Ask Me About: Maine oysters and how to achieve impact from your research through industry collaboration.

        Mike Pratt

        Team: Technology Development

        Title: Managing Director

        What I Do: I incentivize third parties to invest in your ideas through patents and licensing.

        Ask Me About: Unicycling and help with patents and licensing.

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