UK Part of New Kentucky University Technology Commercialization Initiative

The University of Kentucky will assist Kentucky's other colleges and universities in how to translate intellectual property and innovations into market-ready products and startups. UK is partnering with the University of Louisville in the new Commonwealth Commercialization Center (C3) that has been announced by Gov. Matt Bevin. C3 is being partially funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Cabinet for Economic Development's KY Innovation office, which will lead the new effort.

The idea behind the center is to have one place for Kentucky schools, their faculty and students to find ideas and support for commercializing their inventions with much of the expertise coming from UK and UofL. There is also hope that companies looking to invest in Kentucky will reach out to C3 to find research or innovation help.

"C3 enables all of our colleges and universities to share resources to support commercialization, to mobilize capital and to transform that research into fuel for economic growth" Bevin said.

The state’s flagship universities will also use KY Innovation resources to connect all public institutions with federally funded commercialization and entrepreneurship programs, allow easier access to the marketplace for research-driven IP, promote industry sponsored collaborative research opportunities for all participants and aggressively pursue grants.

“I am inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit among the faculty, staff and students at the University of Kentucky,” UK President Eli Capilouto said. “We are committed to harnessing that spirit and further connecting the creative research and development on our campus into tangible solutions in our communities. This new mechanism allows us to share resources and knowledge with our sister institutions across the state and, in partnership, strengthen our economic development pipeline.”

Ian McClure, director of UK’s Office of Technology Commercialization, said C3 sets apart Kentucky as a model for putting innovation to work.

“Innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship communities are all products of their culture and access to resources,” McClure said. “Successful environments have at their center research and academic institutions that embody this culture and facilitate this access. Through this partnership and state-supported initiative, we are advancing this notion and investing in the development of commercialization culture and resources around our Commonwealth's universities and colleges. I am grateful for KY Innovation's support, and for the partnership of all of the participating public institutions and look forward to seeing the bar raised in making Kentucky a regional commercialization leader.”

C3 will offer:

• Advising for administrators related to IP policies, industry research, culture development and innovation management
• Advisory services from faculty
• Increased education opportunities related to innovation, IP and commercialization
• Marketing and promotion
• Invention review and feedback
• IP protection, market research and strategy
• Industry engagement
• Student engagement
• Startup creation assistance
• Patent and startup legal services
• Grant coordination