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On March 14, 2008, Governor Edward Rendell
announced that the Nanotechnology
Institute™ (NTI)—the region's first multi-institutional
partnership for accelerating nanotechnology commercialization
and company formation—was re-funded with $3.5 million
from Pennsylvania. The funding comes from the Ben Franklin
Technology Development Authority through the Commonwealth's
Pennsylvania Initiative for Nanotechnology (PIN).
"The goal of the Nanotechnology
Institute is to be a catalyst for the development and commercialization
of nanotechnology in the region and to identify and develop
ways to overcome the barriers to commercializing the technology," says
RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President and CEO of BFTP/SEP. "We
navigate these barriers, providing incentives for people to
think differently and giving them the motivation to try different
things."
The NTI was founded in 2000 by Ben Franklin
Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP),
the University
of Pennsylvania and Drexel
University. Today it has grown into a comprehensive organization
incorporating 12 regional research institutions centered around
a common framework of technology development, intellectual
property (IP) management, sponsored research and commercialization
partnerships and new company formation.
Collaboration Leads to Success
This collaboration across the NTI's institutional
partners has lead to significant success over the past
seven years. The NTI has helped produce more than 225
IP assets, facilitated seven technology licenses, assisted
in the development of 13 young companies and attracted
more than $172 million in public and private investment
to the region. Today the NTI is actively researching
areas including biosensors, bioprobes, imaging and
tissue engineering, and has recently expanded its focus
beyond life sciences to include memory detection and
adhesives.
"The NTI has been unique in that
it brought together the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel
University to focus on a very new area of interface between
research and commercialization," says Kenneth J. Blank,
Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research at Drexel University. "From
the very beginnings of this new field, our researchers were
able to focus on the applications of their technology, and
we had a head start in the region because of the involvement
of Ben Franklin in commercializing that technology. The NTI
has been outstanding for the university environment in Philadelphia
as well as the region in general."
Steven J. Fluharty, Ph.D., Vice Provost
for Research at the University of Pennsylvania, agrees. "The
NTI allows Penn investigators to engage in close and meaningful
collaborations with some of our region's leading nanotechnology
researchers and allows the university to better partner with
entrepreneurs and industry when important discoveries emerge," he
says. "The NTI serves as an important vehicle in leveraging
our complementary strengths to potential commercialization
partners."
Leveraging State Assets
The NTI was one of six programs funded at the Governor's
press conference at Carnegie Mellon University and received
the largest portion of a total $9.8 million announced. The
funding supports the Pennsylvania Initiative for Nanotechnology
(PIN), which takes advantage of Pennsylvania's regional academic,
industrial and economic assets to improve research and technology
at the atomic and molecular levels.
The NTI was represented at the press conference by:
- Anthony P. Green, Ph.D.,
Ben Franklin Director, NTI, and Vice President, Technology
Commercialization: Life Sciences, BFTP/SEP
- Robert McGrath, Ph.D.,
Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director, Entrepreneurship
and Technology Commercialization, Drexel University
- Paul S. Cribbins,
Assistant Vice President, Office of Government and Community
Affairs, University of Pennsylvania
Today nanotechnology is being greeted
as one of the key economic drivers of the 21st century. In
2005, nanotechnology was incorporated into more than $30
billion in manufactured goods. By 2014, Lux Research estimates
$2.6 trillion in manufactured goods--or about 15 percent
of the total global output--will incorporate nanotechnology.
Management of the NTI
The NTI's vision and execution
is managed by Oversight Committee members.
- RoseAnn B. Rosenthal,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Ben Franklin Technology
Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania
- Steven J. Fluharty, Ph.D.,
Vice Provost for Research, and Professor of Pharmacology,
Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania
- Kenneth J. Blank, Ph.D.,
Vice Provost for Research, and Professor of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine, Drexel University.
The NTI is also guided by its
Operating Committee consisting of representatives with expertise
in all areas of commercialization.
- Anthony Green, Ph.D.,
Ben Franklin Director, NTI, and Vice President of Technology
Commercialization: Life Sciences, BFTP/SEP
- Robert Carpick, Ph.D.,
University of Pennsylvania Principal Investigator, NTI, and
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied
Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania
- Kambiz Pourrezzaei, Ph.D.,
Drexel University Principal Investigator, NTI, and Professor,
School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Drexel
University
- Erli Chen, Ph.D.,
Director, Nanotechnology Commercialization Group, NTI
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