AUTM
Brandeis Innovation Director of Licensing and Strategic Alliances Rajnish Kaushik, MBA, PhD represented Brandeis Innovation at the annual AUTM Annual Meeting in San Diego this month. The premiere event for technology commercialization, the AUTM Annual Meeting brings together technology licensing professionals from research universities with industry technology scouts and leaders looking for the latest in technologies emerging from university labs. This year’s event was as usual very well-attended, including former members of the Brandeis Innovation team. Raj ran into Rong Zhou, PhD ‘16, who served for years as Licensing Associate here at the Office of Technology Licensing. It was a time to reconnect with colleagues, catch up on the latest developments in technology licensing, and strengthen connections between universities and industry.
Four sessions of Industry: Connect & Collaboration featured reverse-pitches from companies looking for early-stage innovative technologies from universities for licensing and research collaboration. Raj was there to continue to build connections between Brandeis and the industry, connecting with potential licensing partners, collaborators, and other stakeholders. AI was a frequent topic at the conference, highlighting the current trend, its importance in innovation as well as for IP analytics and how universities are sharing their innovations in response to industry trends. Brandeis has several technologies available for licensing that relate to data science, making these sessions especially relevant to our portfolio.
“I was proud to represent Brandeis at this key event for university technology commercialization,” says Raj, adding “It was a productive event that allowed us to get in front of industry and continue to build interest in Brandeis’ breakthrough innovations, with the goal of getting more technologies out of the lab and into commercial production. Every year, AUTM hosts an annual conference which not only helps in getting up-to-date with current tech-transfer trends and practices but it also helps universities to showcase the best technologies coming out of university labs, and I can say with confidence that Brandeis inventions keep pace with those from the largest universities around the globe.”