A new program at the University of Rochester will help researchers turn their discoveries into useful, marketable products more easily than ever before. The University's Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), which specializes in connecting scientists with businesses looking for cutting-edge knowledge, now has two "Entrepreneurs In Residence" who bring industry experience to the department.
The entrepreneurs, Paul McAfee and Mark Wilson, will spend part of their time at offices in the department.
"We invited Paul and Mark to help us enhance our program to market intellectual property developed at the University of Rochester," said Mark Coburn, associate provost and director of the Office of Technology Transfer. "By adding Paul and Mark to our management team, we are preparing new marketing initiatives and facilitating faculty startup companies. These activities will enhance awareness of the University's technology commercialization opportunities."
McAfee is principal and co-founder of management consulting firm eXubrio, LLC. EXubrio has offices in Buffalo, San Francisco, and Tel Aviv, Israel. EXburio serves emerging technology companies by helping them to improve their marketing and sales effectiveness while carefully managing their limited early-stage funds.
Wilson is principal and founder of Initiatives consulting, LLC, a Rochester based consulting firm focused on the "fuzzy front-end" of organizing new ideas for prioritization and implementation. Initiatives is particularly adept at crafting commercialization strategies for patents and research that wish to become companies.
The University of Rochester's Office of Technology Transfer is responsible for the management of the intellectual property resources of the University of Rochester. Its goal is to pursue innovative strategies to help translate scientific progress into tangible products, while returning income to the inventor and the University to support further research and education. OTT facilitates the licensing of technology to companies, encourages new faculty startup ventures, works with publishers and distributors of software, and supports the transfer of research materials to other universities, research agencies and companies. For more information about the Office of Technology Transfer, visit http//:www.rochester.edu/ott.