04/21/2021
By Patricia Morena
The next IUCEE and GE2 Webinar is scheduled on Thursday, April 29 at 6:30 pm IST (2 pm GMT, 9 am EDT)
Crossing the Valley of Death: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Commercialization at Tufts University
Presenter: Kevin Oye, Executive Director, Tufts Gordon Institute
Register for the April 29 Webinar
The results of fundamental and applied research generated by universities often have little to no impact on society. Why? In many cases, the research both contributes to our fundamental knowledge and understanding, and provides a foundation for innovations that could benefit society. Unfortunately, there is often a gap between the research result, and the translation of the findings into a solution to a societal problem, along with a business and financial model that is investable.
At Tufts, we’ve been building our innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem with specific programs focused on accelerating the translation of research to commercialization, including launching a new MS in Innovation and Management that targets recent STEM graduates and in an intensive one year full time program, ignites and incubates all the skills necessary to launch ventures. This talk will share this program, and how it fits into the overall commercialization ecosystem at Tufts.
Presenter: Kevin Oye is the Executive Director and a Professor of the Practice at the Tufts University School of Engineering Gordon Institute, the locus for innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership programs at the university. He is also the Director of the Innovation and Management Program that trains STEM graduates the skills and mindsets to launch innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives in both startups and existing enterprises, for profit and non-profit. Before joining Tufts, he spent 35 years in the networking industry in global strategy, research and development, corporate acquisitions, and venture investing, at companies including Sycamore Networks, Bell Laboratories, AT&T, and startups in China, India, and the U.S.