The development and nurturing of partnerships is required to fully realize our potential. Partnerships often bridge the gaps in knowledge and expertise and allow us to leverage strengths and resources that result in better solutions and more efficient translation to real-world application and impact.
2.1 Establish and communicate FSU’s bold vision.
- Initiated the recruitment of a Communications Manager for the IGNITE FSU program (NSF grant funded).
2.2 Develop simple commercialization and partnership engagement processes.
- Developed and implemented Fast Start, a process to increase the ease and speed of faculty startups.
- Repositioned an AVP position in the Office of Research to recruit Valerie McDevitt, JD, as the first Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Innovation.
- Created industry multi-center visit procedures and successfully beta tested with College of Engineering.
- Developed targeted leave behinds describing industry partnership support.
- Updated confidentiality agreement template and process.
- Updated exclusive license and option templates.
- Significantly streamlined and, in many cases, eliminated the use of the Unfavorable Terms memo.
2.3 Increase opportunities to work together to develop impactful solutions.
- Secured a $6M award from NSF to advance translational research at FSU.
- Delivered a seminar on SBIR grants through the IGNITE FSU program.
- Developed Industry Research Days procedures, with the first scheduled in the College of Engineering for November 2024
- Hired Alissa Costabile as IGNITE FSU Program Director to support startup development and emerging technology companies (NSF grant funded).
- Engaged a faculty committee to assess/reimagine Collaborative Collision activities.
- Joined the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Customer Experience Hub, called the ARPANET-H: a nationwide health innovation network that will target large prevention, treatment, and diagnosis initiatives on a national scale.
2.4 Encourage cross-disciplinary engagement for students and faculty.
- Created an interdisciplinary neuromodulation working group that meets biweekly (ASPIRE Impact Area 5.1)