The Energy Commercialization Institute

In 2009, Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, Penn State University
and Ben Franklin established the
Energy Commercialization Institute (ECI) with $1.2M in funding from Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority. The ECI partnered with Philadelphia University, Temple University, Villanova University and Widener University to become the region’s first university-based energy commercialization partnership. ECI was re-funded with $1M in early 2011. ECI has supported the development of more than 110 Intellectual Property assets, executed 12 technology licenses and leveraged $16.5M to the region.

ECI pools intellectual property from participating institutions, providing dedicated technology transfer services with expertise to promote energy commercialization. It offers corporations a single point of negotiation for IP licensing, independent of the number of institutions with ownership of that IP.

The ECI offers to funds:

• The Energy Translational Research Fund (ETRF) provides grants of up to $150,000 directly to institutional researchers to support multi-institutional projects with a high degree of potential success.
• The Energy Sponsored Research Agreement Fund (ESRA) provides up to $50,000 in matching funds for Sponsored Research Agreements to support institutional research for the advancement of a company’s existing technology.

Funding is available to those institutions affiliated with the ECI: Drexel University, Penn State University, Philadelphia University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University and Widener University.

Click here to read the ECI Awards Annoucements

For more information, please contact:

Khalilah Parham Mangum
215-972-6700, x3226