Brandeis Innovation

2019 June Year in Review Newsletter

Brandeis Innovation: A Productive 2019 with More to Come This Summer

Dear Members of our Community,
This has been a very full year for us, as I'm sure it has been for each of you.
Through our outreach programs, we reached over 100,000 members of the Boston innovation community with our message of inclusive innovation, and met in person with over 500 new event attendees across the fields of biotech, sustainability, social enterprise, and big data. I encourage you all to download our FY 2018 Highlights report as well as our 2017-18 Innovation Impact Report .
  • SPROUT returned for its ninth year with the most diverse array of technologies ever proposed. From new vaccine platforms, treatments for drug-resistant disease and social networking for scientists to new energy technologies, SPROUT grantees are pioneering technologies that may one day be the next big breakthrough to emerge from Brandeis.
  • The 120th edition (and the 2nd Annual Pi Day) of Mass Innovation Nights came to Brandeis on March 14 where teams from Brandeis and Waltham presented their latest ideas, many of which focused on community connectedness and environmentally friendly products. Representing a wide range of industries, winners were Flora on the Menorah by our own Fern Shamis, SciLinkR, Roselle Cosmetics, GreenChoice, and GreenLabs.
  • Brandeisian Jessica Sanon, MBA (Heller) '17 and her team sySTEMic Flow were one of the winners of Mass Innovation Nights #122, on May 9. SySTEMic Flow itself was a 2018 SPARKTank winner.
  • SPARKTank itself is in its fifth year once again supported an amazing cross-section of both technological and social innovation projects. From a youth peer translation platform to a clean water innovation to an app designed to help dementia patients, our teams' missions ran the gamut of impactful technologies. This year's SPARKTank grand prize winner, SpeechFlow, designed a novel software to help make slide presentations more intuitive, efficient and powerful. The range of technologies this year was remarkable.
  • As one of only 6 NSF I-Corps sites in the Commonwealth, we continued our successful I-Corps Fellowship, hosting two cohorts. Two teams who have gone through our I-Corps program were selected for the prestigious national program this year.
  • One of our First National NSF I-Corps Teams, EMet Nanotech, presented at the Venture Cafe's BIO Connect on April 25 to pitch their technology ideas. They won a coveted spot in this year's MassChallenge Boston cohort; past SPARKTank winners GreenChoice will be joining the MassChallenge Rhode Island cohort.
  • For the first time, Brandeis had a booth at the AUTM (Association of University Technology Managers) Annual Meeting, held from February 10-13. Our booth and bold, leading-edge branding so impressed Tech Transfer News, the leading industry publication, that they wrote a profile on the Brandeis Office of Technology Licensing.
  • We hosted our 4th Annual Brandeis Innovation Showcase on Nov. 15 and the teams got a chance to present their ideas to fellow students, alumni, faculty, and staff. The teams themselves were funded by our I-Corps, SPROUT, and SPARK programs.
  • Last but not least, I was proud to represent innovation at Brandeis when I was interviewed at New TV to discuss our many programs and events.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Menapace
Associate Provost for Innovation
Executive Director, Office of Technology Licensing and Hassenfeld Family Innovation Center

Summer Updates:

For the First Time, TWO Brandeis Teams Win Spots in MassChallenge

EMet Nanotech, one of Brandeis University's two first national I-Corps teams, has been selected from over 4,000 applicants as one of the 100 promising startups that will participate in this year's MassChallenge program. EMet hopes to simplify electron microscopy by reducing molecule complexity for better, more easily reproduced results. By participating in the 2019 MassChallenge, EMet Nanotech also gains access to top corporate partners, expert mentorship, a tailored curriculum, scholarship opportunities and more than 20,000 square-feet of co-working space in the Innovation and Design Building all at zero cost and for zero equity.

GreenChoice, a longtime participant in Brandeis Innovation programs, won a spot in MassChallenge's Rhode Island cohort. Founded by Brandeis International Business School graduate Galen Karlan-Mason BA '16 MBA '17, GreenChoice helps consumers find products that mesh with their value system so that they make the most informed choice when purchasing food.

Associate Provost for Innovation Rebecca Menapace Speaks at Deshpande Symposium

Associate Provost for Innovation Rebecca Menapace will be speaking at the 8th Annual Deshpande Symposium for Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Higher Education on June 12 on efficiently running a technology transfer office with a small staff and limited resources. Key in this is the reduction of patent associated costs and increasing licensing revenue. Resourceful allocation of employees, interns, and others is essential to the equation. Learn more tips at the Symposium

Learn More

Join HackMyPhD
July 18, 1-5 p.m.

HackMyPhD is back for its third year, with new speakers and a shortened agenda. This July 18, from 1-5 p.m., join us to learn how best to enter careers beyond academia, what it takes to launch your own startup or a startup within a company, and apply an entrepreneurial skill-set in future academic and corporate settings . It's all about becoming more creative with your post-PhD career path.
This year's program is filled with practical skill-building, interactive panels, and startup pitches that will feature PhDs who have carved out inspiring, innovative projects and careers.