Foresight Science & Technology has secured a new contract to provide Commercialization assistance and training for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s SBIR FY17 Phase II Awardees. Foresight will draw upon its 38 years of experience to tailor a 2-year support program for the Phase 2 Awardees that will emphasize the commercialization and market entry of their technologies, products and solutions. Consultative support will be provided that not only strategically guides the participants but also imparts knowledge and awareness of the commercialization process.
Author: Editor
NASA Langley Building Culture of Innovation through Fast Track To Market Competition
Posted June 24, 2017 By: Daniel Satinsky, VP of Business Development
NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) is continuing to develop a culture supporting technology commercialization through its second annual “Fast Track to Market Competition” which took place on June 22, 2017. Conceived by Foresight Science & Technology, LaRC’s technology commercialization support contractor, the Office of Innovation at the Office of Strategic Analysis, Communications and Business Development (OSACB) solicited technologies from LaRC’s research community in healthcare, transportation and heating & cooling.
Out of more than twenty submissions, ten competing teams were selected. They then went through a two-day pitch training session to orient them on how best to promote the commercial value of their technology in preparation for their presentation to a panel of experienced outside judges. Each team made a seven-minute pitch presentation to a panel of industry experts, composed of Eric Prescott, General Electric; Terry Hall, Hall Analytics, LLC; Jerry Cronin, Center for Enterprise Innovation, Old Dominion University; Jay Borkland, Tufts University; Luke Chow, Prime Manufacturing Technologies, Inc.; Marty Kaszubowski, Center for Enterprise Innovation, Old Dominion University; and Carl Knoblock, U.S. Small Business Administration. The judges then presented their evaluations and recommendations to OSACB. Norton Kaplan, who initiated the idea of the competition and Daniel Satinsky, who recruited the panel, led the Foresight support team.
The competition built upon last year’s competition to attract broader attention and interest in commercialization from the LaRC researchers. As a result there were a number of very interesting and potentially commercially successful technologies presented to the judges. With some difficulty due to the high quality of the competition, two technologies were selected to receive additional research funding and commercialization support. The winning technologies were a laser vibrometer for remote monitoring of cardiac activity and a laser surface treatment and spectroscopic analysis system. The promising technologies that did not receive an award will receive marketing and promotional support for outreach to industry from OSACB over the next year. So in most senses, all the participants were winners and the competition itself was another building block in the growing commercialization culture at LaRC.
Foresight Featured Speaker at NASA Event
Norton Kaplan, Foresight President & COO was an invited speaker at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Strategic Partnership Office (SPO) 23rd Annual New Technology Reporting Program on June 13, 2017. The issuing of patents to the GSFC inventors is a major step in promoting the transfer of GSFC-developed technologies to the private sector. Commercialization starts with recognizing the potential of a NASA technology and then defining the “value proposition” of the technology or solution. The benefits need to be uncovered and articulated so that it becomes attractive to end-users. Validation of these benefits along with the willingness to acquire the technology is next. The key to successful commercialization of a NASA technology lies in the willingness of the inventor to get involved. As most NASA technologies are developed to meet specific mission objectives, the transition to terrestrial markets is not always seamless. Creativity, imagination, and often in-depth engineering must be applied to make this transition. The NASA SPO is focused on these efforts. Congratulations to the award recipients!
The First McDonald’s in Hungary: “Tasting the Capitalism”
Posted June 3, 2017 By: Phyllis Speser, CEO
Foresight again sponsored and exhibited at the ASTP-Proton Annual Conference this year. A delightful part of the ASTP-Proton Annual Conference is a walking city tour the first afternoon. This year we strolled downtown Pesh, one side of the river in Budapest. Our tour guide, George, stopped in front of a McDonalds to inform us it was the first McDonalds in Hungary, opened shortly after the Soviets left. It is also the fanciest one the world. The building is the old railway station, which was built in 1877 by the Eiffel Company. That firm is better known for its Eiffel Tower project in Paris.
Prior to being a McDonalds, Budapest’s Western Railway Station housed an old and very posh family-run restaurant – the kind where you had to dress well to eat well. The last of the family wanted out of the restaurant business but no-one wanted to buy the restaurant. So owner decided to sell the building and shutter the business. As it was a prime downtown location. McDonalds wanted it for their first Hungarian operation.
There was one unusual provision in the sale according to George: For a period of some years, sufficient for the prior generation to die off, the dress code had to be maintained. Now normally you’d think that would kill the deal, but someone in McDonalds was clever. At that time, there was pretty much only two kinds of meat in Hungary after years of Communism: high end (the kind the restaurant had served) or low-end (like greasy goulash and sausages). The hamburgers we Westerners have come to hate or love fell in-between by local standards. This enabled positioning McDonalds as a purveyor of middle class meat for the masses, which after the shortages and hardships plus brutality of the Soviet-backed regime was something to celebrate, something worth dressing up for so you could “Taste the Capitalism.” Which was the marketing slogan McDonalds used to introduce the store into Hungary.
There is a takeaway for those of us in the tech business. Innovation has a social dimension. The timing of McDonalds’ first restaurant in Budapest made eating there a celebration of freedom. Hence people had no problem dressing up to go for a burger. We call that “leveraging a market driver.” World historical change is a powerful market driver.
The equivalent world historical change today is global climate change. Innovations which address or mitigate it will be celebrated just as the first McDonalds was in its day.
Thoughts from Attending the ASTP-Proton Annual Conference in Budapest
Posted on June 2, 2018 By: Phyllis Speser, CEO
In a session on the commercialization of Social Science, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA) inventions, the presenters discussed how you measure impact. It struck me as curious that no-one mentioned what was perhaps the greatest example of impact in modern times, especially in light of the fact we were in Hungary. That example is the rise of communism and then it’s replacement by capitalism in Eastern Europe.
Communism is, of course, directly traceable to the humanities. Karl Marx was a student of law and philosophy at the University of Berlin. There, he studied Hegel, who provided the philosophical scaffolding for the movement of history, although Marx transformed Hegel’s spiritual movement into a physical one rooted in the relationships of production. Engels brought a social scientific data-driven perspective which populated this scaffolding. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Prague Spring, and the Grobachev reforms in Russia also have their roots in SSHA, for it was critical theorists and students who were among those at the forefront. The work of Hungarian Georg Lukacs and his students is an example. Written in the aftermath of the Prague Spring, Lukacs book The Process of Democratization was a precursor to many of the Gorbachev reforms.
Growing Opportunities in Asia
Posted May 3, 2017 By: Konstantin Izvolsky, Director of Assessment & Training
On April 24-25, 2017 Dr. Phyllis Speser (CEO) and I represented Foresight Science & Technology at the AUTM Asia-2017 conference which took place in Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. Several hundred attendees representing China, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, India and other countries discussed the problems associated with the integration of the Asian academic institutions into the global technology innovation ecosystem and the development of the efficient mechanisms driving the successful academic technology transfer and entrepreneurship in Asia. First off, we would like to thank our friend Dr. David Ai, AUTM Asia 2017 Organizing Committee Chairman, and many volunteers representing several Hong Kong Universities for this wonderful experience.
In recent years, we have witnessed the unparalleled economic growth in South East Asia. The strength of academic research and the introduction of new policies promoted the unprecedented growth in the number of filed PCT applications (particularly in China) while the availability of international financial resources resulted in the spike in entrepreneurial activity and the creation of large technology parks in Honk Kong, Singapore and Shenzhen focusing on global innovation. At the same time, Asian region is extremely diverse and while some countries have been able to develop efficient innovation ecosystems others, like Thailand and Philippines, only now start to actively promote academic innovation. The lack of efficient policies as well as gaps in education and training of the new generation of academic technology transfer managers and even language barriers are seen as the major hurdles in the integration of these countries in global innovation ecosystem. These issues, among others, were openly discussed during the “The Renaissance of the Ancient Silk Road” session at the second day of the conference.
We see tremendous business opportunities in Asia. It is clear, that even in the regions like Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and China there are multiple ways to facilitate entrepreneurship and to help Asia-based startups exploring international markets, particularly the US market. Several possible scenarios of such collaborations have been discussed with colleagues from China, Singapore and Hong Kong during the conference. For example, we believe that Asian startups can explore the US market by creating the US-based spinoffs and utilizing well-established funding mechanisms like SBIR/STTR. Foresight is very interested in exploring this model and is ready to assist small Asian startups in entering the US market by assessing the market opportunity, identifying potential partners and funding sources for the technology development and in marketing the technology. Also, the abundance of financial resources, advanced technopark infrastructure and the proximity to the Chinese market makes Hong Kong the ideal launching platform for the US- and EU-based startups interested in exploring the market opportunities in the South-East Asia.
In addition, our experience in providing the training covering the key aspects of the academic technology transfer raised significant interest from technology transfer professionals from China and Thailand. It should be noted that Foresight already has very positive experience in providing training to South East Asia academic institutions. At the end of 2016 Foresight conducted two-day training session to the selected group of technology transfer and licensing professionals from several Hong Kong universities, including the City University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and several others. This training session was organized in collaboration with Dr. David Ai and received very positive reviews. Foresight plans to capitalize on this success and is ready to provide interactive training sessions to technology transfer professionals focusing on each country’ specifics.
We here at Foresight look forward to productive interactions with our colleagues from Asia and providing the expertise and knowledge to support Asia-based startups and the more efficient integration of Asian academic institutions into the global innovation ecosystem.
AUTM 2017 Experience/Observations From a First-Timer
Posted on March 17, 2017 By: Reda El Alami, Analyst
From March 13th to 16th I attended the 2017 AUTM Annual Meeting in Hollywood, FL. As a newbie to AUTM, my experience during this conference was a series of first times followed by moments of reflection. I had anticipated that the conference would be a smaller and more intimate setting, but it was far from what I had imagined, with nearly 2,000 attendees from all around the world. My expectation was shattered on Day 1.. What I thought would be a small and intimate learning experience turned out to be a massive production with several tracks and several sessions simultaneously taking place. All components of the Technology Transfer process were represented in their own professional capacity; from licensing associates, to technology scouts, to IP attorneys, to the cloud-based platforms designed to match inventions with investors, and everything in between. My concern of being one of the only attendees there was quickly appeased when I started noticing “First Time Attendee” ribbons on people’s badges. This small, and very welcoming ribbon was key to my success in learning to approach other attendees, learning about their background and their company and building a small network of professionals with the sole purpose of getting as much out of this conference as possible. As the hours rolled and the learning grew, I built the confidence to approach some of the more veteran attendees and just poked their brain on what they do, and which piece of the tech transfer process their organization fits in. It fascinated me to learn that so many people had already heard of Foresight from across the globe and some even owned Dr. Speser’s book ‘The Art and Science of Technology Transfer’. Although a lot of AUTM content was geared toward university professionals, the information delivered and emphasis to support attendees in learning and networking provided me with an invaluable experience.
Making and growing connections at AUTM2017
Posted on March 17, 2017 By: Alyssa Nacewicz, Director of Sales & Marketing
This year Foresight sent two staff members (myself included) to the AUTM Annual Meeting which took place March 13-15 in beautiful Hollywood, FL. In contrast to the last 14 years when we sponsored and exhibited at the event, we had the opportunity to enjoy the event as attendees, sit down, and really talk with our current and potential customers. Though the world has shifted so much towards connecting through social media, email, etc. we find that it is still extremely important to connect face-to-face. Being able to chat openly over lunch to raise opinions, questions, and concerns helps to build and grow connections that are extremely important in this industry.
Sometimes we get so lost in the work that we do to commercialize an innovation and get hung up on what needs to be done, that we begin to lose sight of why. This was the topic of what I felt was the most exciting part of the conference—the plenary speech by Kavita Shukla. Dr. Shukla spoke about her difficulties and ultimately success in commercializing her technology, FreshPaper. Her moving speech told the story of how and why she came up with her innovation and though at times she felt so close to giving up, she found inspiration from her colleagues, friends, and teachers to persevere. Among many of the other attendees, I walked out of the session feeling empowered, knowing that as technology transfer professionals we have the power to make a difference and bring about change the world.
Foresight Trains TTO Staff in Marketing
March 1-2, 2017, Foresight held a two-day training for a Canadian University technology transfer office staff on marketing. Like many universities, this university has a large portfolio of technologies for which they are seeking more cost-efficient and effective marketing. The Foresight trainers Phyllis Speser, J.D., Ph.D. R.T.T.P., founder and Vice Chair of the Board, and Konstantin Izvolsky, Ph.D., Director of Assessment and Consulting Services, provided a two-day course on the subject. The course focused on how to covert technology-push into market-pull marketing. Included was a session on how to evaluate technologies in order to determine the more productive ways to market them, discovering applications where demand pull exists, understanding how to succeed in those markets, finding and opening discussions with potential licenses and funding sources, leveraging alumni and donation offices, allocating scarce human and financial resources efficiently, and getting to “yes!”. One of the unique advantages of Foresight training is the mix of informative and attention-grabbing seminars with hands-on exercises involving technologies currently being marketed by the TTO. The pedagogical literature confirms that people learn best when they can practice what they have just learned in meaningful exercises. Another unique advantage of Foresight’s approach to training is the emphasis on sharing “tricks of the trade” from leveraging social networking media to cold calling. In a class like this one, where many of the “students” were actually seasoned professionals with over 10 years of experience, Phyllis and Konstantin bring a knowledge sharing approach in which everyone is encouraged to share best practices and to bring up technology transfer challenges for group discussion and problem solving. The result was 1) new perspective on how to better bring technologies to market, 2) new skills and capabilities to make their marketing more productive, and 3) a renewed appreciation for how regular knowledge sharing/problem solving sessions can accelerate successful outcomes.
Please contact Konstantin at 1-401-273-4844, ext. 4003, Konstantin.Izvolsky@ForesightST.com to discuss customized training for your staff.
Foresight Receives Contract for EPA SBIR Support Program
Foresight Science & Technology has been awarded a multi-year contract as the sole contractor for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Commercialization Assistance Program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Through this contract, Foresight will continue to provide direct assistance to Phase I and Phase II small businesses funded by the EPA to develop environmental technologies and products critical to the mission of protecting human health and the environment. Foresight will consult and mentor the small businesses to validate the markets to be served, help identify and overcome commercialization roadblocks, and to assist in identifying partnership opportunities.