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At last week’s ECoNA Advisory Council, dozens of our partners in economic growth heard from NAU Innovations, which is on a quest to increase community partnerships to accelerate commercialization of research being done at the university now and in the future.
In fact, said William W. Aylor II, assistant vice president of research and innovation at NAU, the program has dozens of projects ready to be brought to the marketplace based on research done in the fields of education; health and biomedical devices; software; energy; and the environment.
These include a virtual classroom training simulation module; an exoskeleton that can assist people in walking; software that would map urban greenhouse gases; cellulose-based supercapacitors for “smart” buildings; and the use of drones for forest ecology.
NAU Innovations helps transform inventions generated through university research to the private sector, turning discoveries into solutions that have both local and global impact.
The program also helps university researchers better understand the types of technological advancements that the industry sector wants in order to move forward with new products and services.
To that end, NAU Innovations plans to hold a workshop in April for NAU researchers on industry engagement. It is looking for three companies to be part of an hour-long panel to discuss what they are looking for in a research partner and possible ways they could collaborate with NAU researchers.
To learn more about NAU Innovations and the many inventions and technologies available for licensing, click here. If your business is interested in participating in the April workshop for NAU researchers, you can email William Aylor here.
One of the keys factors in our region’s success has been the partnerships between our industrial sector and our university. NAU Innovations represents some of the best work to bring those “town” and “gown” elements together to solve problems and create new opportunities. |
