mOVing FORWARD The March 2014 Mexico Moving Forward event featured Juan Pardinas , Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad CEO ( far left ); and a discussion between ( L to R ) Janet Napolitano , University of California president ; Pradeep K . Khosla , UC San Diego chancellor ; Peter Cowhey , Global Policy and Strategy dean ; and Antonio Ortiz-Mena , head of the Office of Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Mexico .
Photo courtesy School of global Policy and Strategy
UCSD ALUmNI AND FACULTY HAVE CREATED
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“ Nurturing innovation is vital to the future of our research enterprise ,” said Chancellor Khosla , announcing the recent hire of Paul Roben as associate vice chancellor for Innovation and Technology Commercialization , a new division to promote commercializing new technology , including the creation of startups . Roben , formerly the director of office technology development at the Salk Institute , credits UC San Diego for creating the regional biotech boom through a number of “ wildly successful ” companies like Cypher Genomics .
Yet UC San Diego isn ’ t just getting into the startup world now — it has been supporting innovation and entrepreneurship for decades . The university ’ s Technology Transfer Office ( TTO ) just surpassed 20 years as the promoter and facilitator of campus intellectual property to the greater community . At the recent TTO anniversary celebration , Vice Chancellor for Research Sandra Brown called the TTO the place where science is transferred to serve the public , a way of “ assisting the innovators and entrepreneurs on campus ” by linking them to the greater region .
The event was attended by alumni and community leaders across all fields , including San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer , who said the city would not be what it is without UC San Diego . As of a January 2015 report , UC San Diego alumni and faculty have launched over 300 startups , garnering nearly $ 32.7 billion in annual sales .
A good portion of that figure can be attributed to Qualcomm , Inc ., arguably the largest business in the region with a historical connection to the university . In his introduction of the Qualcomm founder , Irwin Jacobs , Chancellor Khosla noted how the telecom icon started out as a UC San Diego engineering professor with breakthrough ideas about wireless technology . Jacobs remains closely involved with UC San Diego as a benefactor , mentor and partner , investing in at least seven companies directly from the university .
“ I congratulate all of you in the Technology Transfer Office ,” Jacobs said in his address at the TTO anniversary event . “ The first 20 years of technology transfer have obviously been successful , allowing many companies to start up and bring back benefits to the university . I suspect the next 20 years are going to be even more spectacular .”
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BiRTHing innOVATiOn UC San Diego ’ s Technology Transfer Office celebrated 20 years of helping research breakthroughs benefit the greater community and world .
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