Page 41 - T-I JOURNAL19-3

Technology and Innovation, Vol. 19, pp. 601-603, 2018 ISSN 1949-8241 • E-ISSN 1949-825X
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.21300/19.3.2018.601
Copyright © 2018 National Academy of Inventors. www.technologyandinnovation.org

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND COMMERCIALIZATION
AT UNIVERSITIES: A FACULTY PERSPECTIVE

Amy Phillips , Paul Tumarkin , and Nasser Peyghambarian
2
1
1,2
1 Tech Launch Arizona, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
2 College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
This paper discusses entrepreneurial and commercialization activities at universities from
the personal experience of Nasser Peyghambarian, an inventor on 32 patents and founder
of two start-up companies. In his twenty years leading start-ups, he has experienced both
the challenges and the rewards of working through the technology transfer process within a
university environment, beginning in the 1990s when universities had just begun engaging in
commercializing inventions stemming from research.
Key words: Entrepreneurship; Commercialization; Technology transfer; Venture capital;
Universities

As a named inventor on 32 patents and the founder UNIVERSITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
of two high-tech companies, I have fully experienced COMMERCIALIZATION: THE POSITIVE
the challenges of technology transfer of research- University research is crucial for solving real-
based inventions into commercial products. On world problems. To test new drugs and treatments for
the one hand, it is a fantastic feeling to create value efficacy or new scientific hypotheses for validation,
beyond the initial university research, leading to the researchers continually devise novel instruments,
development of new products or services to improve software, and processes. In doing so, they often find
people’s lives. On the other hand, the process can be that their inventions have far broader applications
significantly challenging to the point of disappoint- than the particular problem they would like to
ment and a desire to simply quit. Although this is solve. Technology transfer allows the researcher to
only one person’s experience at the beginning of tech- move these inventions into real world applications
nology transfer efforts in a university environment, by assessing the true novelty of the work regarding
nonetheless, it can be instructive to other inventors patentability, evaluating the commercial potential for
who are just starting their journeys. the work, and finding the right business partner to

_____________________
Accepted: October 15, 2017.
Address correspondence to Amy Phillips, College of Optical Sciences, 1630 E. University Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. Tel: +1 (520) 626-1698.
E-mail: aphillips@optics.arizona.edu

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