ReInvent Abilene’s Blog

4-Class Webinar Course on the
Federal Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR)
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Using SBIRs/STTRs For University
Startup Creation and Funding
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(Please forward this announcement to all universities and researchers interested in learning how to commercialize their research using the SBIR/STTR program. For your convenience, you can click the letter icon above on the right side of this page to email your friends and colleagues).
To register Click Here.
Cost:
This 4-lecture course is free, but registration is required.
Description:

This is an introductory level course for those that would like to learn more about the SBIR/STTR programs and how they can apply to the programs, with particular emphasis on how universities and university researchers can benefit.
Each lecture is a 90-minute webinar. There will be expert guest speakers for each session.
This online webinar course is for researchers and universities looking to commercialize inventions through startup creation and funding using the over $2 Billion Federal SBIR/STTR Program.
SBIRs/STTRs are the principal federal program to fund initial commercialization of major research. These programs are designed to stimulate small business technological innovation and cutting-edge research that addresses the nation’s most critical scientific and engineering needs, and to provide incentive to profit from its commercialization. Often times, funding for research abruptly ends with researchers looking for further sources of funding, and the SBIR/STTR program is a natural next step for those university investigators with inventions ready for commercialization.
Federal agencies with extramural (external) R&D budgets in excess of $100 million must allocate 2.5% of these funds for competitive grants to small companies. There are presently 10 participating agencies with a total of more than $2 billion available for SBIR annually. Agencies include:

• National Science Foundation
• Dept. of Health and Human Services (NIH, CDC, FDA)
• Dept. of Energy
• Dept. of Commerce (NIST)
• Dept. of Defense
• Dept. of Agriculture
• Dept. of Education
• Dept. of Transportation
• Environmental Protection Agency
• NASA

To participate, the small businesses must meet certain eligibility criteria:

• The principal researcher must be employed full or part-time by the business
• The company size can be as small as one person, but not greater than 500 employees
• The company must be 51% American-owned

To be eligible, the company does not have to be in business before the SBIR application. The company can be formed after the SBIR funding is granted, making it an ideal vehicle for post-research commercialization funding.
Agenda:
Lecture 1: Overview and Understanding the Programs and Sponsoring Agencies
Thursday May 21, 1:00-2:30pm ET
Lecture 2: How To Enhance Your Chances Of Winning An Award
Thursday May 28, 1:00-2:30pm ET
Lecture 3: Mistakes and Pitfalls To Avoid
Thursday June 4, 1:00-2:30pm ET
Lecture 4: SBIR/STTR Winners Experiences and Success Stories
Thursday June 11, 1:00-2:30pm ET
Co-Organizers:
Steve Ferguson
Deputy Director, Licensing & Entrepreneurship
Office of Technology Transfer
National Institutes of Health
Ali Andalibi
Program Director
National Cancer Institute
SBIR Development Center
National Institutes of Health
Juan E. Figueroa
Program Director SBIR
Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnership
National Science Foundation
Clara Asmail
Program Director SBIR
NIST
Tony Stanco
Executive Director
National Council Of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer
Webinar Technical Requirements

To participate on the webinars you need an internet access. The visuals are seen on your computer and the audio can be heard over the computer OR over a phone line.

As part of The National Council of Entrepreneurial
Tech Transfer (NCET2) Series on

"What Are Universities Doing to Create and Fund University Startups: Best Practices"

Daniel Daly

will discuss
University of Alabama's

AIME Center

Wednesday, April 29, 1:00-2:30pm ET (10:00-11:30am PT)

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To register go to:
http://ncet2.org/UpcomingEvents/University-of-Alabama-apr09

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In this webinar Dan Daly will discuss the reasons for creating the AIME Center and its accomplishments in commercializing university IP and creating and funding university startups.

Creating a thriving environment at The University of Alabama that will foster the growth of intellectual property while meeting the changing needs of our state and nation in the area of economic development is an important task for the 21st century. The University of Alabama, through its AIME Center, is striving to reconfigure itself to meet the challenge posed by the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). This new initiative has focused the attention of the nation on the issue of global competitiveness. ACI follows on the heels of many reports in Washington including “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” by the National Academies and the book “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. The gist of this new approach to competitiveness is a strong coupling of university research through innovation and the commercialization of intellectual property as well as increasing the pipeline of American students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for the workforce. This new approach compliments the Governor of Alabama’s delegation, of which UA is a member.

A key component of this new approach to competitiveness is the emerging role of entrepreneurship as the key driving force for growth and global competitiveness through the formation of wealth. In a summative sense the sequence of the words research, innovation, commercialization, STEM workforce and entrepreneurship capture the essential ingredients of the ACI concept.

Universities have traditionally played major roles in research and the development of the STEM workforce, but lesser and even non-existent roles in innovation (defined as adding commercial value to generated knowledge), commercialization and entrepreneurship. Recently, Carl Schramm's article “The Broken M.B.A.” published in The Chronicle of Higher Education discussed the changes needed in business education and the requirement for an entrepreneurial education in the modern world. Universities have begun to pay attention to innovation and commercialization, as a result of the changing dynamics in the late twentieth century, through the formation of offices of technology transfer and more recently with business incubators and research parks. While such changes are essential in universities, they tend to confront the ACI concept in a rather piece-meal manner instead of an integrated approach. At The University of Alabama we believe in an integrated approach that plays to our vision of a student-centered research university as well as a vision of enhancing the life of Alabama residents which are at the core of our mission.

ROLE OF AIME

As a result our increasing understanding of the needs of the ACI concept in universities, as well as our desire to play strongly to the vision and mission of UA, the plan for AIME is to implement innovation and entrepreneurship. To fit this role the Alabama’s Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneurs Center focuses on the following gaps:

• Corporations and industry will continue to invest less in early stage development due to market pressures to show a profit, forcing universities to engage in developmental or innovative research.
• Industry is not likely to license IP that is not developed to a commercial stage leaving universities with untapped IP.
• Venture capital rarely invests in startup companies for the purpose of bringing IP to a commercial stage making it hard for universities to spin off IP into startup companies. Biotechnology and IT are often exceptions to this rule.
• Universities need to become competent in building a compelling case for corporations to invest in our inventions (license game) and/or encourage entrepreneurs to invest their efforts in our inventions (startup company game).
• Innovation, the act of adding value to new knowledge or intellectual property, presumably for commercial purposes, requires a sustainable innovation ecosystem.
• The innovation ecosystem in a university requires people (faculty, staff and students) who already are part of the infrastructure as well as physical infrastructure.
• The mission of universities is to educate and train students in all facets of the competitiveness agenda in an integrated manner. Through our entrepreneurship training, CEOs and CTOs will emerge to be integrated into these locally established start-up companies.

Universities traditionally are the principal generators of new knowledge and early stage IP. A conclusion to be drawn from the above facts is that they need to fill the innovation gap and position themselves higher on the commercial value chain by forming innovation research centers and engaging in R&D to add commercial value to IP. Such innovation centers should be in addition to an office of technology transfer and a business incubator and form part of an integrated system known as the innovation ecosystem. However, to carry out the broader vision of The University of Alabama as a student-centered research university, it is important that students and their education be an integral part of the innovation ecosystem. How can we accomplish these multi-faceted goals at Alabama’s flagship university?

AIME

AIME develops an innovation ecosystem driven by the involvement of both undergraduate and graduate students. We start with intellectual property that has been disclosed to UA, and build an entrepreneurial team composed of MBA, Law and Engineering students. These teams assess the intellectual property according to issues of patentability and right-to-use. They also develop an innovation and marketing plan for the invention. The team presents their findings to the Patent Council, who then use this research to assist in deciding the fate of the IP. The most promising IP is furthered dveloped in the innovation center labs (or other university labs as appropriate) for research development as well as legal, marketing and business development.

Student involvement in AIME is driven through a new multi-disciplinary and multi-college entrepreneurial curriculum and program. Major players are the College of Commerce and Business Administration, the College of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Law. Student participation in AIME includes, but is not limited to, marketing research prior to investment in IP development (independent work or classroom projects), mock investment decision games on AIME investment in IP development part-time research staff member, and marketing and sales of IP to the business and venture capital communities. The overall goal is to train UA students on how to start his/her own company or become a participant in these companies.

Students learn how to protect intellectual property, form business models and recruit funding. They are exposed to the companies in the Bama Technology Incubator (BTI) and provided an entrepreneurial team for a given company. We have Venture Fellows brought into the University to help the incubating companies in BTI obtain funding and students work with these Fellows. As part of their training, they will participate in writing SBIR/STTR grants and assist the incubated companies in presenting business models/plans to venture capitalists and angel investors. Students also will be asked to participate in the Alabama Launchpad , a state-wide business plan writing competition. AIME chooses the projects and works with entrepreneurial teams already associated with the projects. There is an expectation that the students could join BTI companies, since startups are always in search of business executives, or form new startups from AIME developed IP.

Some of the outcomes from the AIME Center are:

• Generate resource/income from IP for UA through commercialization of IP.
• Provide experiential learning for students through entrepreneurial activities (marketing studies, moot corp, etc.) and research laboratory experience.
• Enhance UA research image.
• Foster local economic development (particularly if AIME creates, as opposed to incubates, startup companies).
• Develop Alabama-centric entrepreneurs.
• Attract industrial sponsored research and partnerships.
• Attract quality faculty through the existence of AIME.

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COST: Free, but registration required. Long distance charges from your phone company may apply depending your phone plan.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE?: This webinar is online. You need a computer with web access for the visual and a regular phone line to hear the audio. Q&A is conducted by a chat box to the speakers.

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE WEBINAR?: This webinar is open to the public and anyone interested in the Innovation Economy and what universities are doing to create startups in their region is invited to attend.
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Dan Daly
(Director of the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence
and the Director of Alabama’s Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneur Center)

Bio

Dr. Dan Daly received a B.S. in Chemistry and Psychology from Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. He received a Ph.D. in Physical-Organic Chemistry from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He did two post-doctoral studies in computer-assisted molecular design at The University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida and Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, respectively.

He spent 17 years as Technology Manager for several Business Development Groups, where he was responsible for coordinating the marketing, patent strategy and technology development for these emerging companies.

He developed several low-emission diesel fuels and lubricants and managed and coordinated fundamental programs at several universities and national laboratories. Dan has won several awards for this work including: Nortech Top 50 Industrial Innovation Award for Northeast Ohio Recipient, R&D Magazine Top 100 Industrial Innovation Awards Recipient, ACS Environmental Industrial Innovation Award

Drawing from his industrial background, he brings a business focus to his work at The University of Alabama to insure developed technologies are linked to commercial offerings. Dan is currently the Director of the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence and the Director of Alabama’s Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneur Center. Dan also served as the Director of Technology Transfer from 2005-2007. As the head of Technology Transfer, he won the “Deal of Distinction” Award in 2007 in recognition of his successful licensing activity with BASF.

Mr. Glen Webb, Attorney-at-Law, (McMahon, Surovik and Suttle, Abilene, Texas) will present a seminar, “Texas Renewable Energy” on Monday, April 20, 2009, at The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH).

We live in the midst of a period of rapid expansion and utilization of sustainable energy...witness the exponential growth of wind farming in West Texas.  Yet, little information is available regarding environmental issues associated with wind power. 

The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) is pleased to announce that Mr. Glen Webb, Attorney-at-Law, will give a seminar concerning "Texas Renewable Energy".  Mr. Webb has considerable experience and expertise in wind power issues.

http://techannounce.ttu.edu/Client/ViewMessage.aspx?MsgId=98290

A. Rezgui, A. Bouguettaya, Z. Malik, "A Reputation-Based Approach to Preserving Privacy in Web Services," in Procs. of IEEE Inter. Conf. on Technologies for E-Services, pp. 91-103,2003.

Abstract:

The Web is an environment where users, Web services, and software agents exchange sensitive personal information. This calls for enforceable strategies to preserve people's privacy. In most solutions, users define their respective privacy requirements and must themselves make the decision about information disclosure. Personal judgments are usually made based on the sensitivity of the information and the reputation of the party to which the information is to be disclosed. The emerging semantic Web is expected to make the challenge more acute in the sense that it would provide a whole infrastructure for the automation of semantics in the Web. On the privacy front, this means that privacy invasion would net more quality and sensitive personal information. In this paper, we propose a reputation-based approach to automate privacy enforcement in a semantic Web environment. We propose a reputation management system that monitors Web services and collects, evaluates, updates, and disseminates information related to their reputation for the purpose of privacy protection.

Abilene ISD announced New Tech High School @ ACU will start this coming fall with 100 incoming Freshmen. The school will be based on the Bill & Melinda Gates New Tech High School project based curriculum. Students will concentrate on Engineering or Computer Science.

An informational meeting will be held tonight, Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:00pm-8:00pm at Mann Middle School auditorium

You are invited to attend tonight's meeting or one of the following:

April 21 – TechTalk – Madison Middle School auditorium, 6:00pm
April 23 – TechTalk - One AISD Center, Board Room, 6:00pm

Fiesta Mercado 2009: "Celebrating Business" . . . Mark your calendar . . . Saturday ~ October 3, 2009 ~ 9a.m. - 4 p.m. ~ Abilene Civic Center.  Contracts will be mailed out this week to 2008 Business Mercado exhibitors.  If you would like to interact with the fastest growing market segment-the Hispanic market-act now! To sign up for a booth or for more details, contact the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, Lupita Buitrón-Martinez @ (325) 677-7241 or e-mail:  lbuitron@abilenechamber.com