USM Continues Strong Growth in New Companies Developed from Campus Technology Research

Adelphi, Md. (Nov. 4, 2013) -- Increasing the number of new companies developed from technology advances at University System of Maryland (USM) schools is a priority goal of the USM Strategic Plan 2020. An informational presentation received recently by the USM Board of Regents showed considerable progress on this Strategic Plan initiative: a 29-percent increase in new companies developed from campus technology advances during fiscal year (FY) 2013.

The USM's heightened focus on technology transfer is reflected by the creation two years ago of a standing committee-the Committee on Economic Development and Technology Commercialization-a committee focused on bringing to market the research advances made at USM campuses.

Recent changes in the academic review and tenure process reward faculty for research innovations with potential for commercial development.

USM institutions played a role in launching 67 companies classified as "Tier I" and "Tier II" enterprises, companies that, respectively, were founded on a technology license from a university or received considerable support from university resources.

In May 2013, USM recognized three faculty members with the USM Board of Regents Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

The ceremony, held in the new John and Frances Angelos Law Center at the University of Baltimore (UB), honored Neil Goldsman and Martin Peckerar, professors in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), and Scott Strome, a professor and chair of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology in the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The entrepreneurial success of these researchers is reflected in the support of UM Ventures, a joint effort among the technology transfer offices at the UMCP and University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) campuses to stimulate discovery and drive commercialization efforts and new business venture development.

Overall, USM schools played a role to some degree in the formation of 187 companies during FY 2013, the one-year period ending June 30, 2013. As part of a series of initiatives to accelerate entrepreneurship and innovation, the USM has put a process in place to regularly monitor new company formation.

 

New Companies Facilitated by the USM Institutions, Jan. 1, 2013-June 30, 2013

Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu