The Penn Center for Innovation consolidated and unified the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Technology Transfer with other Penn commercialization resources, allowing for a more streamlined experience for Penn researchers and potential business and industry partners.
Maximizing the ability of Penn researchers to effectively collaborate with the private sector is one of Penn’s highest goals as clearly articulated in Penn Compact 2020, the University’s strategic vision authored by President Amy Gutmann.
Penn Compact 2020 revolves around three major strategic aims for the university: inclusion, innovation, and impact. PCI helps Penn to achieve two of these three vital goals at once by providing Penn innovations and inventors with the best chance to impact the world at large.
PCI’s model facilitates an efficient and comprehensive service for faculty through a variety of means, including:
- collaborations with individual schools to make PCI’s licensing officers easily accessible to faculty;
- an online invention disclosure portal that makes it easy for faculty to get the commercialization process started with PCI;
- active marketing outreach leveraging the information available via PCI’s technology database and relationships developed through PCI’s licensing staff and Corporate Alliances group;
- extensive new venture creation resources;
- speaker events;
- The Penn I-Corps Site Startup Accelerator designed to facilitate commercialization of university research; and
- The Pennovation Works site that stimulates entrepreneurial activity and promotes the commercialization of research discoveries.