By Amy Jones
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows interested in exploring careers within technology transfer and commercialization can apply for the Innovate Fellows program through the UAB Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Selected fellows are trained to assist the HIIE team in evaluating the newest inventions arising from campus research by performing market, prior art and patent analyses to assess inventions’ commercial merit. The analysis reports also identify competition and potential industry partners.
Fellows are paid $100 per report, and fellowships typically last at least one year. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; those interested should contact Thaddaeus Kwan at tkwan@uab.edu.
“The Innovate fellows play an important role in our workflow, and their research into the commercial viability of inventions is invaluable to us and our inventors,” said Karthik Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D., director of Licensing and New Ventures for HIIE. “As our disclosure numbers ramp up, we hope to add more Innovate fellows to help us meet our mission of commercializing UAB technology to benefit our world in a timely and market-informed way.”
Tejeshwar Rao, Ph.D., says his time as an Innovate fellow helped him learn to see innovation from a marketing standpoint, rather than just as a scientist.
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Fellows are paid $100 per report, and fellowships typically last at least one year. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; those interested should contact Thaddaeus Kwan at tkwan@uab.edu. |
“Being in research, it is easy to get completely immersed in your science and, in doing so, lose focus on translating the research into something of value to society,” Rao said.
Fellow Shyam Bandari adds that he believes working as an Innovate fellow has made him more valuable to potential employers.
“While attending job interviews, I was able to show my expertise in various ways. I could answer scientific questions and also judge prospective translational projects, giving my opinion on what was necessary to make such projects successful,” Bandari said. “My Innovate Fellows experience gave me an edge over my competitors.”
To find out more about the Innovate Fellows program and see a list of current fellows, visit the HIIE team page and click on the Innovate Fellows tab.
