FEATURED NEWS
NEW FUNDING PROGRAM:
CATalyst POC Fund
The CATalyst Proof of Concept (POC) Fund Program is being launched by the University of Kentucky (UK) Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) to de-risk and better prepare UK technologies with commercial potential for market fit and application. Through the CATalyst POC program, the OTC aims to accelerate the commercialization of technologies being developed at UK by helping to bridge the funding gap that often exists between idea/discovery and commercialization, the so-called “Valley of Death”.

Through this OTC program, funds will be available to support proof of concept for innovations emanating from UK faculty and staff. Selected proposals will receive initial funding of between $5,000 and $50,000 (funding awards may be tranched in multiple parts, in which subsequent parts will be released after successfully meeting one of the established project milestones). The final award amount will be determined by the scope of work and based upon the successful completion of milestones developed according to input from OTC, UK Intellectual Property Committee (IPC), and any external reviewers.
FEATURED EVENTS
UK Entrepreneur Showcase

Date: March 24, 2020
Time: 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Location: Ballroom 212C, Gatton Student Center
Patent Palooza!

Date: March 24, 2020
Time: 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Location: Ballroom 212A, Gatton Student Center
KYNETIC RFA DEADLINE APPROACHING
The Kentucky Network for Innovation and Commercialization (KYNETIC) Request for Applications (RFA) is open to all faculty, staff, trainees, and students at all participating public universities and community colleges within Kentucky. Non-faculty applicants must identify a faculty member who is willing to sponsor their application. Multiple Principal Investigators (up to three) are permitted. Applications must focus on developing products that have the potential to improve patient care or enhance human health.

All types of products (e.g. therapeutic, preventative, device, test, software) are eligible. There is no disease-specific requirement. Applications should involve technologies or ideas that originate from within one of the participating public universities or community colleges that have pending intellectual property or are eligible for patent protection, copyright or some other mechanism for intellectual property protection. Technologies that are already licensed to a company are not eligible. 

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: February 15, 2020
OTC EDUCATION SESSIONS
February OTC Webinar
Everything You Need to Know About Agreements

Date: February 20, 2020
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.


VPR Lunch & Learn Series:
So You Think You Want To Be An Entrepreneur?

Date: February 26, 2020
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: 102, Mining & Materials Building

March OTC Webinar
How to Submit an Invention Disclosure and Stay in Compliance

Date: March 18, 2020
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.


April OTC Webinar
SBIR: Ready - Fire - Aim

Date: April 9, 2020
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.



STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS
NATASHA JONES

Natasha Jones, commercialization manager, has been selected to serve a second term as the chair for the Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) Exam Committee.
IAN MCCLURE

Ian McClure, executive director, will be presenting at the MassMEDIC on February 4 as part of the MIT Enterprise Forum. The topic is From Inspiration to Monetization: Making Tech Transfer Work for Innovators, Universities and Their Partner
JOB OPPORTUNITY: OTC Fellows
If you are a graduate student, P.h.D. candidate or postdoctoral scholar and are interested in an experiential learning opportunity, then look no further. We have two open positions. This is a great opportunity to learn about different career paths.

Check out the video to learn more about our OTC Fellows program.
NEW OPPORTUNITY: eApprentice Program
The OTC Entrepreneurship Apprenticeship Program allows you the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with technology startups here on campus. This program provides the opportunity to work with startup founders and experienced industry specialists to build a tech company.

The eApprentice Program requires applicants to either be a graduate or upper class undergraduate student with an interest in entrepreneurship and be available for at least one year to work prior to graduation.
BY THE NUMBERS
ISSUED PATENTS
December 2019

Mark Crocker, Yajing Ji
(CAER)

Craig Jordan
(College of Medicine )

Stephen M. Lipka, Christopher R. Swartz (CAER)

Cameron A. Lippert, Kunlei Liu, James Landon, Susan A. Odom, Nicolas E. Holubowitch
(CAER and College of Arts & Sciences)

Vivek M. Rangnekar
(College of Medicine)

YuMing Zhang
(College of Engineering)
UK IP LICENSING DEALS
December 2019

Kerafast
Timothy McClintock
(College of Medicine)
EVENTS
Every Wednesday, 7:00 a.m.
DV8 Kitchen
867 S Broadway #140, Lexington, KY
No RSVP necessary
Wednesday, February 26, 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Awesome Inc
348 E Main Street, Lexington, KY
DID YOU KNOW?
We would like to thank all of the innovators we work with. We appreciate your innovation, research, entrepreneurial spirit and everything you do. We are here to serve you and it is important for us to continuously improve our processes and interactions. We would appreciate your feedback so we can continue to improve.

Once a year, OTC sends out a survey to all the innovators our office has worked with over the past year. It is that time again. If you worked with our office in 2019, we would appreciate you completing our survey to provide us feedback. From your feedback, we will assess our programs and services, and work toward making them more beneficial to our innovators.