The Entrepreneur-Ready Technologies website went live on Friday, April 15. Courtesy of www.rochester.edu/entrepreneurship/ereadytech
A week ago, the Entrepreneur-Ready Technologies website (www.rochester.edu/entrepreneurship/ereadytech) went live. A launch was held at the Hyatt Regency Rochester hotel on Friday, April 15, to celebrate the occasion.
The website contains information on the over 400 patents that UR holds for inventions in various fields, from medicine to computer technology.
“Catalysts of specific shape meet DOE goals for a four-fold improvement in the use of platinum in automotive fuel cells and for other chemical applications,” the website said in a description of a low-cost fuel cell catalyst. This is then followed by a two-page summary of the product, which features — in layman’s terms — the problems it solves, its application, advantages and its technological status.
With E-Ready, companies can now easily navigate through the diverse portfolio of technology developed by UR scientists. They can then cash in on those that best suit their needs.
“The idea came about because I knew there were about 400 patents available for license at … UR, but it was very hard to understand how to find the ones that had high potential,” Simon Graduate School of Business Lecturer of Entrepreneurship Donald Golini said.
Having recently sold his company, Golini was looking to the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) for ideas on a new business. He started working with the deputy director, Jack Fraser, who was aware of the numerous potential patents at the University and the idea of a website that highlighted products when the greatest commercial potential came about.
It took the teams at OTT and the Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) three to four months to pull the website together. Some key figures in this process, apart from Fraser, were Natalie Antal and Maureen Konopka, both of the CFE.
The High Tech of Rochester (HTR) is spreading the word and pointing people to the site. They helped host the launch of the website during the third annual Celebration of Entrepreneurship Luncheon.
“I believe there is a bigger story behind the site that can get broader coverage,” Golini said. “We still have some work to do on that front.”
Lim is a member of
the class of 2014.
