On May 21, 2015, a student-led effort to facilitate commercialization at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) was approved by the Pritzker Molecular Engineering executive committee. The Innovation and Commercialization Fellowship program will serve as a link between new discoveries and inventions created in PME labs, and innovation organizations at the University of Chicago. It specifically addresses the challenges associated with commercializing University technology.
Created to respond to the increasing number of people and organizations wanting to connect with PME, the ICF program empowers graduate students and postdoctoral scholars affiliated with PME to interface with the UChicago innovation ecosystem, and move new discoveries and inventions into the commercialization pipeline. IC Fellows are a resource for PME and will maintain an active portfolio of PME discoveries and intellectual property. They will also act as ambassadors to organizations such as the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (through the Booth school), the Chicago Innovation Exchange, and UChicagoTech, the University’s technology transfer office. Fellows will also identify appropriate sources of commercialization funding for projects and help to prepare proposals for those grants.
The ICF program has already attracted interest from Argonne National Laboratory research groups and external investors; additionally, the Chicago Innovation Exchange, Polsky Center, and UChicagoTech have shown eager support for the program. In its first six months, the program will organize a booth at the Polsky Center’s Innovation Showcase and begin assembling the PME technology portfolio. The Fellowship program reports directly to the PME executive committee and will be actively managed by the ICF executive board, comprised of Dr. Sharon Feng, Professor Jeffrey Hubbell, and two IC Fellows.