Mizzou ‘visioneers’ bring innovations to consumers

Helping investigators leverage the impact of their research and protecting the University of Missouri's intellectual property are the overarching goals of Mizzou's small but mighty Technology Advancement team now located near Capen Park in Suite Q180, 1400 Rock Quarry Rd.

“It takes foresight, imagination and specialized expertise to turn academic innovations and discoveries into commercial products and services,” said Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Michele Kennett who oversees the team. "Technology Advancement handles everything from filing patents to finding industry partners interested in licensing the rights to Mizzou inventions."
 

First step for researchers

The process starts when researchers who think they have an invention with commercial potential submit a confidential Invention Disclosure Form to Technology Advancement. Each year on average, Mizzou faculty and staff disclose more than 100 inventions, which the team evaluates for novelty, utility and market potential.

"We are here to help researchers, departments and colleges," said John Woodson, who joined Technology Advancement about seven months ago as director. "We want to be a partner and an asset from grant proposal through discovery to commercializing discoveries."

Woodson has extensive experience working with intellectual property in both industry and academia, and also spent nearly a decade working with entrepreneurs, business owners, faculty and students interested in starting and growing small businesses. Most recently, he served as director of innovation for Missouri's Small Business Development Centers and associate director of technology transfer and economic development at Missouri S&T.
 

Technology Advancement’s role

Technology Advancement acts as a conduit between companies seeking to solve problems with innovations, investors in high-tech/high-growth startup firms, entrepreneurs and Mizzou's scientific advances. 

In most cases, an invention with a patent, copyright, trademark or other protection is an incentive for a company to invest in commercializing it. This intellectual property also can lead to successful grant proposals, new funding opportunities and partnerships that increase the odds that the research will result in a product or service. 

The Technology Advancement team manages Mizzou's intellectual property, a valuable asset that may be transferred to industry through the negotiation and execution of license agreements. Technical expertise from researchers combined with an analysis of scientific and patent literature, research on possible competitors and other factors guide the Technology Advancement team’s marketing and intellectual property strategies. 

Successful technology transfer professionals usually have a background in science blended with business and legal expertise as well as strong communication and negotiation skills.

For example, Venkatesh (Venky) Ramaning, who joined the Technology Advancement team in August as the licensing manager for innovations in engineering and physical sciences, possesses a master's degree in mechanical engineering and is currently pursuing an MBA. He is a Certified Licensing Professional and a recipient of the Volunteer Service Award from the Association of University Technology Managers.

Before joining Mizzou, Ramaning held positions at Cambridge Enterprise, the University of Cambridge commercialization arm, and the Office of Technology Commercialization at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He also worked in industry at Zimmer Biomet and Tesla.

"I am driven by how I can be a facilitator in helping with the next big thing," Ramaning said. "I work with attorneys, industry and faculty inventors. There is so much variety. I love technology transfer and the impact my job has on the lives of people."
 

Recent accomplishments

Technology Advancement efforts can be measured in many ways, such as the number of patents issued, licensing agreements executed or new products sold. The following are a few recent accomplishments:

• On average, Mizzou is granted around 20 U.S. patents each year, a testament to the originality and quality of research conducted by investigators. For example, Patent No. 12,397,173 was granted in August for an infection-control therapy . The technology, developed by John Gahl, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, coats the surface of a medical implant with an isotope that upon exposure to low-energy neutrons will produce a low dose of ionizing radiation to eradicate bacterial infections.
• The Erler-Zimmer company has licensed and is selling a number of products for medical and veterinary students that were developed at the Russell D. and Mary B. Shelden Clinical Simulation Center, including a realistic IV training arm.
• The Technology Advancement office executed the university's first-ever nut tree license agreement for UMCA® PQK Chestnuts, which has opened up a new plant sciences area with commercial potential.
• In May, the Food and Drug Administration approved gene-edited pigs with resistance to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. Animal sciences researchers Randall Prather, Kristin Whitworth and Kevin Wells developed the innovation, which the Technology Advancement office licensed to the Pig Improvement Co.
   

For more information, please contact the Technology Advancement office at techadvancement@missouri.edu or 573-884-3136.