The First Steps Toward Commercialization: IP and Funding

​IP and Funding for University Research Commercialization

​Join University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University  for two practical conversations on what it takes to move university research toward commercialization.

​Both panels will be moderated by Kelly Collier, Director of Ecosystem Development, LifeX.

​Doors open at 3:30 PM. Feel free to come, network, and get settled for the panels that will being at 4:00 PM.

​4:00–4:30 PM | IP: Is Your Technology Commercially Meaningful?

• ​What makes a technology commercially meaningful, not just patentable?

• ​How do corporate and VCs evaluate emerging university technologies?

• ​What are the biggest gaps between invention disclosure and commercialization?

​Hear from experts who evaluate university technologies from licensing, investment, and industry partnership perspectives.

• ​Jacob P. Greenberg, Senior Manager, Business Development & Licensing, Carnegie Mellon University

• ​Maximilian von Poelnitz, GP, Foothill Ventures

• ​Scott Morley, Senior Director, Office of Industry & Economic Partnerships, University of Pittsburgh

​4:30–5:00 PM | Funding: What Will Fund the Next Milestone?

• ​What types of funding are available to researchers?

• ​What evidence, validation, or milestones make a technology more fundable?

• ​How should researchers decide between grants, translational funding, and private capital?

​Hear from researchers who have raised funding and the decision-makers who evaluate and allocate funding:

• ​Dr. Carl Snyderman, Professor of Otolaryngology and Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Otolaryngology Director of the UPMC Center for Cranial Base Surgery

• ​Cindy Chepanoske, Director, Center for Technology and Enterprise Creation at Carnegie Mellon University

• ​Jordyn Ting, Postdoctoral associate in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh

• ​Lauren Cantor Wright, Principal, Yosemite

​The discussion will include practical examples of what helped technologies move forward, what caused them to stall, and what researchers can do next.