Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Ray Winton jokes that he'd have to quit his job as an electrical engineering professor at Mississippi State if the university's Office of Technology Commercialization didn't exist.
Winton, who spends his spare time dreaming up new ideas, secured his first patent about a year ago through the office created to help campus inventors. Currently, he's working on securing his second patent, a process that may take three or four years.
An expert in the fields of optoelectronics and microelectronics, Winton has a plan to introduce to the world a "smart" adhesive bandage--a product that could check the temperature and other medical diagnostics about the body to which it's attached.
Yet another idea the solid-state device theorist has could increase the life of a cell phone battery charge by three times the current average life.
While patents can protect Winton's ideas from intellectual property theft, turning the ideas into a commercial enterprise takes lots of time, networking and understanding of how it works. That's where the Office of Technology Commercialization helps by identifying potential licensees and doing the legwork necessary to protect and license the invention.
"I kind of like what I do, researching and teaching students," Winton said. "If I pursued this company on my own, it would be a full-time job."
Well before Winton and other MSU inventors deal with patent applications to protect their work, they must file an invention disclosure form with the Office of Technology Commercialization. In 2007, the university office received 80 invention disclosure forms, laying groundwork for future patents.
Along with helping spur creativity and products and services to benefit the public, MSU and inventors always have the possibility of a financial payoff if an idea takes off. Based on a complicated formula the land-grant institution has developed, employee inventors may receive 40-50 percent of the royalties from their creations.
Chuck Rivenburgh, director of the office, regularly sees a range of potential products enter his office doors. They may range from specific types of turf grass from the university's agriculture programs to semiconductors invented by engineering professors.
"We work to foster an environment of entrepreneurship," Rivenburgh said.
He said the office also helps inventors and researchers establish startup companies. The continuing goal is to have at least two or three startups form annually with assistance from the office.
Creating an environment of entrepreneurship also involves workshops and luncheons held each semester to keep campus researchers and inventors thinking about potentials for moving their work into the marketplace. One recent speaker was Doug Hall, bestselling author of "Jump Start Your Business Brain" and founder of technology-centered EUREKA! Ranch.
Hall--who visits campuses throughout the country and whose firm works with the likes of Nike, Walt Disney, Kellogg's, and American Express--also spent time with individual MSU inventors in early stages, as well as others who already had established startup companies.
Hall identified several ideas that could pay off big for both faculty members and the university. "I've already made a number of offers to talk to my clients," he said, adding, "I don't take that lightly."
After hearing presentations ranging from virtual motion feedback to help improve golf swings to ideas associated with alternative energy sources, Hall said he may visit again to follow up on the progress.
With another academic semester under way, Ray Winton has begun teaching courses again. He's happy with his life, but said he wouldn't mind having an extra income stream from his ideas.
He welcomes partnering with a cell phone chipset company regarding his technology to triple phone battery charges. A licensing associate in the Office of Technology Commercialization currently is searching for potential clients.
"It's great entertainment and a great experience," Winton said of the unknowns he deals with in entering the commercial market. "Maybe we'll make some money out of it."
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more about MSU's Office of Technology Commercialization, contact Rivenburgh at 662-325-3521 or ctr@otc.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.