Tag: Innovation

Foresight Awarded NSF SBIR Grant to Research Taste Masking Agent

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Foresight Science & Technology, Inc. (Foresight) has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant as part of a cooperative research development agreement (CRADA) with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, to conduct research and development (R&D) on an environmentally neutral product for control of red imported fire ants (RIFA). This project intends to establish a proof of concept for the use of taste masking agents that are already used in human and animal medications to mask the negative taste of an effective active ingredient for use in a pest ant bait station. The commercial impacts of the proposed activity will be to provide consumers and gardeners an effective, affordable, and environmentally responsible treatment for controlling RIFA as an alternative to existing chemical pesticides. The addressable market for the product is households and professional pest control service companies in the 14 infested states that currently use chemical pesticides to control RIFA, and additional households and service companies that would use bait stations if an organic solution was available.

“NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering,” said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. “With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.”

“Foresight appreciates the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. As a long-time provider of commercialization services to SBIR funded companies, we recognize the importance of small businesses and their entrepreneurial efforts to bring innovative and important products and services to the marketplace. With funding from the NSF SBIR, Foresight is excited to be one of those small businesses.” – Norton Kaplan, Foresight Science & Technology President & COO

About the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Programs: NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $1.75 million to support R&D, helping de-risk technology for commercial success. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions, and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. To learn more about the program, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/

For further information about this project, please contact Dan Satinsky, daniel.satinsky@foresightst.com.

If It Doesn’t Get Made, It Never Goes to Market

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UPDATE: Due to the unfortunate cancellation of the AUTM Annual Meeting, Foresight will no longer be in performing the workshop during the planned dates. Please reach out to learn more about our New Product Development services and training sessions!

“If It Doesn’t Get Made, It Never Goes to Market”
75-minute Workshop By: Dr. Leah Speser
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 01:00 PM – 02:15 PM
 

Success at transitioning an invention or innovation to market is highly dependent on the quality of new product development (NDP) according to empirical studies, with the best companies hitting success rates of 82%. In this session conducted by Foresight Founder, Dr. Phyllis Leah Speser, you’ll gain an understanding of NDP approaches and best practices to interest industry in your offerings, evaluate potential licenses or spin-out proposals, negotiate better licenses, reduce costs of monitoring and compliance, and respond to missed milestones. Along the way, we will look at how understanding NPD can increase success rates with SBIR/STTR and other gap funding programs. We will explore widely used NPD process models illustrated through case studies. We will also cover portfolio management, project selection, market research and resource allocation. We will focus on everyday tasks, and even provide you with a task checklist you can take back to your office.

The rundown on AUTM Asia 2019

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Posted November 14, 2019 By: Konstantin Izvolsky

On November 5-7, 2019 Foresight Science & Technology attended AUTM Asia-2019 conference in Jerusalem, Israel. This conference provided a great platform for technology transfer professionals from Asia to share the best practices and address the challenges related to the transfer of technologies from the university laboratories to the marketplace. Israel, the location of this year’s conference, is known for its high quality of academic research and dynamic innovation ecosystem. The host nation was represented by the large number of attendees from local universities and technology transfer companies. China and Thailand were also represented by large delegations of technology transfer managers and researchers. Interesting discussions were focused on the analysis of best practices in establishing university-based innovation centers and incubators, improving the efficiency of faculty outreach, comparison of alternative business models for academic technology transfer, including Technology Transfer Offices vs. Technology Transfer Companies. As always, part of the AUTM Asia conference was dedicated to technology transfer career development. The conference also addressed the key international events which affect the global collaboration and technology commercialization, including US-China trade war.  The last day of the conference included very interesting pitch presentations from several Israeli venture funds and incubators, including aMoon- the largest Israeli life sciences venture fund, LabsO2, VLX and Nextar. The conference offered opportunities for networking as well as social events such as the tour of the Israel ecosystem.

Hammer and Silicon – The Soviet Diaspora in the U.S. Innovation Economy

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Foresight’s VP of Business Development, Daniel Satinsky, co-authored a new book. Hammer and Silicon – The Soviet Diaspora in the U.S. Innovation Economy, published by Cambridge University Press discusses the impact of immigration policy on the US tech sector. The book is based upon in-depth interviews of more than 150 professionals who emigrated from 11 of the 15 former Soviet republics between the 1970s and 2015 and who currently work in Silicon Valley and Boston/Cambridge. The book places the immigration of these skilled Russian-speaking professionals within the context of the broader movement of the “best and brightest” from around the world to the US over the past 50 years.

For more information or to purchase the book, visit: https://www.amazon.com/Hammer-Silicon-Innovation-Immigration-Institutions/dp/1316641260.

Thinking Like “Shark Tank”

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Posted on April 1, 2019  By: Norton Kaplan

 

I suggest viewing “Shark Tank” https://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank occasionally to pick up a few hints on how to evaluate and strategize business opportunities and entrepreneur tactics. Most importantly I suggest paying attention to the “Shark Tank” inventor panel members and their questions and comments. I find that each panel member typically focuses on specific pitch/company attributes. For example, I feel that Mark Cuban focuses on the people and resources relative to commitment and drive. Lori Greiner often inquiries about market dynamics and intellectual property. Kevin O’Leary looks for ROI and competition. John Daymond often focuses on supply chain and networking. The others have their own focus.

There is a lot of commonality in how “Shark Tank” is conducted and the work that Foresight does. Sometimes it is pointing out the “elephant in the room.” Highlighted in a Forbes article – “Five Reasons 8 Out Of 10 Businesses Fail” the number 1 reason is that they are Not really in touch with customers through deep dialogue and the number 2 reason is No real differentiation in the market (read: lack of unique value propositions). As Foresight moves forward as a leading commercialization consultancy we all need to look for the evolving needs of our customers and the markets that they are impacting. Foresight is addressing some of these changing needs with products/services like the new SMART Report and the new support program consulting for SBIR/STTR TABA. I look forward to your input on what you are seeing in the companies and markets that you support.