Pushing research into the marketplace one pitch at a time

Are you conducting research at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga?

Have you thought about or pursued the potential commercial applications of your work?

If so, consider entering the inaugural FLY for Researchers Pitch Competition at UTC. It’s open to all faculty, staff and graduate students. Applications are due Feb. 18. Finalists will be chosen mid-March and will present at ReSEARCH Dialogues in April as part of the contest.

You don’t have to be camera-ready for “Shark Tank” or want to start your own company to enter, said UTC Commercialization Counselor Jennifer Herrett-Skjellum.

“We’re building the foundation for a culture of innovation at UTC that can lead to licensing and commercializing research,” she said.

The pitch contest is new, but the stakes are high.

First-, second- and third-place winners get $20,000, $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, for expenses related to getting their ideas out of the lab or the field and into the marketplace. The cash awards can be used for such things as fees for registering trademarks, patent applications, supplies and travel.

“This is a big prize, but commercialization can also be an expensive endeavor,” she said.

Applying for a U.S. patent costs about $60,000 just to start, she said.

Herrett-Skjellum has been building a network of faculty and staff interested in moving their research from theory to application through weekly meetings since 2020.

“Making connections with faculty and being a resource for them has been a big focus,” she said.

From helping hone an idea to identifying existing competition in the market to plugging into the system-wide University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Herrett-Skjellum works with researchers in various stages of the process.

One challenge, she said, is simply convincing researchers that they could and should pursue the commercial aspects of their research.

Academics working in the hard sciences tend to be more familiar with and open to the possibility of turning their work into a product, she said.

From rocket fuel and seatbelts to Google and Gatorade, some of the most famous products in history have been developed by scientists at universities.

But there’s also plenty of opportunity for academics working in social sciences, history, art, music—just about any discipline—to pursue commercialization, Herrett-Skjellum said.

“If you’re doing research in say, the School of Education, have you developed a special type of curriculum? Because that’s intellectual property, and that’s protectable; and it’s just as valid as being patentable,” she said.

The traditional step of publishing or presenting research may undercut future commercial applications and the proprietary aspect of the work itself, said Joanne Romagni, vice chancellor for research and dean of the Graduate School at UTC.

“That’s why it’s important to have someone here on campus to talk to about these things in the early stages,” she said. “We’re helping our faculty think about their work in a different way,” she said.

Researchers can sometimes lose sight of the fundamental point of their work, which isn’t “publishing a paper that six of your friends will read,” Romagni said. It’s aimed at advancing knowledge ostensibly aimed at making the world a better place.

Just thinking about how to take an idea from the lab or the field and push it into the marketplace helps researchers better understand the value of their work in everyday life and explain it to the public, Romagni said.

“Most commercial pursuits don’t end up being big revenue generators,” but the process protects intellectual property for faculty members and adds to the bona fides of the University, she said.

“It should be as important as writing papers and grants,” said Romagni, who is working with the UTC Faculty Senate to incorporate commercial research activities into the promotion and tenure process.