CURF Resources and FY22 Research Metrics

Dear Colleagues, 

As a support organization for the Clemson University research enterprise, our primary mission is to ensure faculty and graduate student success through improved researcher-industry engagement, increased sponsored research funding, and technology adoption through licensing and start-ups. Over the past fiscal year, we collectively have made significant strides toward developing and commercializing your research. So, thank you for all your hard work!

I want to take the opportunity to welcome everyone back to campus and am excited about yet another year of innovative research! As you settle in, I want to remind you of the CURF resources available to assist your research endeavors at Clemson below and provide a snapshot of the FY22 research intellectual property metrics collected from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 (FY22).

• Disclosing an invention starts a process that could lead to technology commercialization. During FY22, CURF received 35 invention disclosures. If you have developed a novel technology from your research, submit an invention disclosure to CURF to protect your invention. Please submit your disclosure here.
• Protecting your invention with a patent is immensely important to the success of your technology. In FY22, CURF filed 33 US patent applications on behalf of our inventors.
• During FY22, we executed 27 technology licenses. To assist you with the commercialization of your technology, we follow a transparent innovation management process. Learn more about our Technology Transfer process here.

In addition to our research metrics, I want to share with you some significant research highlights for CURF-managed IP from FY22.

• We worked with Rick Boyles, Carl Myers, and Brad Stancil in the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences to launch the first national competitive plant license bid in CURF history.
• We secured three major Innovation and Commercialization Awards for the following inventors:
  • Rick Boyles, Assistant Professor of Plant Breeding & Genetics in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences: Received an award from the United States Drug Administration (USDA) for Food and Agriculture Research.
  • Srikanth Pilla, Assistant Professor of Automotive Engineering in the Department of Automotive Engineering: Received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Partnerships for Innovation Technology Translation award.
  • Dil Thavarajah, Professor of Pulse Quality and Nutritional Breeding in the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science: Received the FoodShot Global, Inc. Precision Protein Research Project award.

Lastly, I want to shine a light on Vincie Albritton. Vincie has served in various positions at CURF since its inception and has most recently served in a dual role capacity as the Deputy Director for CURF and Director of Finance & Operations for Technology Transfer. Sadly, Vincie will be retiring on September 30^th of this year. I want to thank Vincie for all she’s done for CURF and the Clemson University research enterprise.

On behalf of the CURF staff, we are very proud to serve and support the work you have been doing to advance research at Clemson, and we look forward to all this year has in store!

Best,

Chris