Exploring the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem at Penn State

Abstract:
Starting a new business from scratch is both a scary proposition and a lot of hard work. However, is a university researcher (faculty, staff, grad student) able to start a business that is related to their university research? Most people would say “No” because it represents a conflict-of-interest. And they would be correct. However, this conflict-of-interest between publicly-funded university research and the commercialization of the research products is capable of being managed in such a way as to enable society to benefit from the research’s commercialization. Although I am in no way an expert in these areas, I am currently going through the process of commercializing products of my university research and will describe the procedure and process by which such commercialization of university research is not only possible but actually encouraged by the university.

About the Speaker:
Dr. Huff is a Professor of Turfgrass Breeding and Genetics in Penn State’s Department of Plant Science and has been a Penn State faculty member since 1994. Dr. Huff received his Bachelor’s degree in Crop and Soil Science from Michigan State University and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Genetics from the University of California, Davis. He conducts basic and applied genetics research in native grasses, turfgrasses, and parasite-host interactions and teaches in the Turfgrass Science, Plant Science, and Plant Biology programs.

Contact

Teh-hui Kao
txk3@psu.edu