BIG DATA

Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane), Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue's Discovery Park have signed a partnership intermediary agreement that will showcase both organizations' intellectual property to expedite and support the move of innovations to the public.

"Crane has an incredible intellectual property portfolio, and we've had success at moving those technologies to the public," said Brooke Pyne from Crane's Technology Transfer Office. "Partnering with academia provides Crane a credible avenue to move even more innovative technology through the commercialization pipeline with a goal of increasing the number of licensing and startup deals for both organizations."

Under the agreement, NSWC Crane and Purdue will remain independent in ownership of their relative intellectual property, but Crane's intellectual property will be marketed alongside Purdue University's innovations through the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, which is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation.

"By showcasing Crane's intellectual property with Purdue's in our marketing databases, we are providing an even deeper pool of available innovations to established companies and startups looking for innovations to commercialize," said Dan Hasler, president and chief entrepreneurial officer of Purdue Research Foundation. "This partnership creates a unique opportunity for both of us and the people we serve. As Indiana's land-grant university, an important part of Purdue's mission is to help the residents of our state and beyond, and one way we can do this is by developing technologies to help improve lives and by using the commercialization to create startups and jobs for Hoosiers.

"Because much of Crane's and Purdue's research is focused on similar disciplines and industries, the partnership could lead to bundling Crane's and Purdue's licensing deals into one package."

NSWC Crane's strength in intellectual property includes technological advances for sensors, antennas and radar used for the Department of Defense and national security. Purdue's portfolio of available innovations includes strengths in life sciences, engineering, agriculture, technology, IT, computer sciences and manufacturing.

Purdue uses a number of electronic marketing methods to promote its innovations including FlintBox, an online tool to promote innovations; its own Web page of available technologies; a monthly e-newsletter with more than 100,000 subscribers; and an Innovation and Entrepreneurship landing page of resources for investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and potential collaborators. Purdue also is reviewing other collaborative opportunities to promote its intellectual property portfolio.