GW researchers and administrators will participate in a conference called TechStorm this June to push inventions created through University research to entrepreneurs.
A total of 24 universities are expected to join together in Fairfax, Va., June 2 to showcase their inventions to entrepreneurs, who could use or market the products.
Gerard Eldering, the president of InnovateTech Ventures, said his company organized the event to bridge the gap between universities and entrepreneurs.
“Billions of dollars go into research at universities every year,” he said. “Our goal is to get the end technology from the university into the public hands.”
Since 2002, the Academic Licensing Community of Virginia-an organization that works to protect and license early-stage technologies in Virginia- has held multiple regional conferences like TechStorm, but there has never been one this big, Eldering said.
University participants will have an opportunity to demonstrate their goods at TechStorm and are encouraged to make connections with licensers. The entrance fee for the event is $350 per person, though students can participate in the conference for just $85.
Charanjeet Guron, the associate director for the Office of Technology Transfer, said that GW will display 12 technology-centered business ideas at the conference. For each technology, he expects roughly two inventors to be present, all of whom are GW faculty, staff or students. Guron said that one example invention was what he called “Just-In-Time Analytics” which would make searching for files on a computer far less time consuming.
Jim Chung, director of the Office of Entrepreneurship, said these types of inventions are just the beginning, as GW also has 35 invention disclosures, created this fiscal year. These inventions remain confidential until properly patented.
Chung said that the main goal of the event would be to find future business entrepreneurs interested in GW technology.
“We hope to make connections with potential licensees that may not have occurred through other channels,” he said in an e-mail.
Eldering said interest has steadily increased in university technology because businesses have begun to see professors and researchers as opportunities. He said GW’s technology should receive a lot of attention at the conference because it has been a leader in technology development for years.
“GW has a great history in entrepreneurship,” Eldering said. “I think we’ll see a great future for them.”
