2024 Bama IP Commercialization Academy
The University of Alabama Office for Research & Economic Development is presenting the Bama IP Commercialization Academy with generous contributions from the UA Culverhouse College of Business, Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute, and Alabama Power Foundation.
We invite you to join a team of student fellows and inventor(s) of a UA Intellectual Property (IP) — patent or patent application — to identify a commercialization path of the IP. The program offers one-semester Bama Technology Commercialization Fellowship to the qualified students.
What You’ll Learn and Do
Through the four-phase academy, fellows will form teams and serve as Entrepreneurial Leads (ELs). To provide technical support to the teams, UA inventor(s) of the technologies will serve as Technical Advisor(s). The ELs will develop ideas for incorporating the technologies into potentially viable commercialization ideas. Over the course of the program, ELs will not only learn technology commercialization, business model, and customer discovery but also validate and test the potential of their business ideas through experiential learning.
The proposed commercialization path for startups will be pitched to judges and receive feedback. The teams will update their business models based on the comments and suggestions. If the teams are interested in further developing their business ideas in 2025, more supports, e.g. incubator and accelerator programs, seed funds application assistance, networking opportunity and mentorship, will be available.
Process and Timeline
Phase 1 – Research your IP
- Starts in mid-September 2024
- The fellows will select an IP and work as a team
- Meet with your faculty inventor to get an in-depth understanding of your IP
- Meet weekly with the program manager to report what you’ve learned
- The fellows will receive training on IP basics and IP Commercialization
Phase 2 – IP Commercialization Training & Experiential Learning
- 5 Fridays, Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25 & Nov. 8, 2024, 1-3 p.m., AIME111
- Student teams join the 5-week Customer Discovery training
- Weekly cohort meeting on Fridays to report what you learned
Phase 3 – Business Pitch and Updating Business Model
- The business pitch is on Thursday, 11/14/24, 6 p.m.– 8 p.m. at The EDGE (2627 10th Ave, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401)
- Present your business pitch to a panel of judges
- Keep polishing your business model based on the feedback
Phase 4 – Venture Development (optional)
- Y2025
- If a team decided to form a startup, more business opportunities are available at AEI and EDGE Labs technology incubator
- Contact Dr. Ying Qin (yqin@ua.edu) for more information
List of IPs (Coming Soon)
Browse the following IP abstracts for a possible project. Make sure to click the Title and Market abstract for details.
| # | Inventor | Patent # or Patent Application # | Title | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
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| 6 | ||||
| 7 |
Questions?
Please contact Dr. Ying Qin, yqin@ua.edu, with any questions.