Incubator RoundUp

Specialized and high-tech incubators provide crucial services and resources to promote and enhance Commercialization & Entrepreneurship, one of the six thematic tracks of this year's annual conference. Three sessions tied to this theme will be explored during SSTI's annual conference, focusing on direct lessons from successful and proven TBED programs, regional innovation clustering, and more. They include:

• Distributed, Non-University Models for Commercializing New Technologies
• Technology Entrepreneurship: Direct Contact Required
• Sustaining Entrepreneur-in-Residence & Mentoring Programs

Announcements of new incubators designed to hatch ideas, speed commercialization of university-based inventions, and grow technology-focused companies across the nation are detailed below.

Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell announced last month a new tech business incubation initiative at the University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center. The UConn Health Center incubator will focus on attracting participants from industry sectors including bioscience, medical devices, bio materials, and other science-, technology- and math-based ventures. During the first year, funding priority will be given to UConn faculty or student ventures, according to a press release. The program is a joint initiative of Connecticut Innovations and the University of Connecticut's Office of Technology Commercialization.

Another Connecticut-based incubator was launched earlier this year to focus on attracting information technology, digital media, advanced materials, and clean tech industry sectors. A partnership between Connecticut Innovations and the University of Bridgeport (UB), the CTech IncUBator is a university-based incubator for high-tech startups located on the UB campus.

Officials from the University of Florida (UF) and the City of Gainesville recently broke ground on the Florida Innovation Hub, called a "super incubator," and designed to promote the development of high-tech companies based on UF research. The 45,000-square-foot facility also will house UF's Office of Technology Licensing and UF Tech Connect, which are the main commercialization offices for the university. Funding comes from an $8.2 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration and $5 million from the university.

The Idaho Small Business Development Center will operate the Greenhouse, a business incubator focused on supporting and advancing alternative-energy companies. The Greenhouse is expected to house approximately 12 companies focused on alternative or renewable energy, including solar, wind, geothermal, conservation or another energy source.

A $53 million research incubator designed to speed the commercialization of vaccines and medical treatments recently was opened on the Colorado State University campus, providing space for university and private researchers to work side-by-side, reports Coloradoan.com. The 72,000-square-foot building also will be used for teaching and for lease to private companies.

Alfred Technology Resources, Inc., a nonprofit organization working to stimulate upstate New York's high-tech sector, announced in May the opening of the NanoMaterials Innovation Center, a technology incubator focused on nanoscale advanced materials and processing capabilities. The center features an open-access research and pilot-scale commercialization facility that enables technology transfer in inorganic nanomaterials science and microwave processing technologies, according to a press release. Emerging technologies in the areas of next generation lighting and energy efficiencies also are being addressed.

A new incubator located on the campus of the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) will house up to 20 small tech-based companies and provide access to university faculty with the goal of commercializing UTSA intellectual property, reports San Antonio Express News. The 7,000-square-foot facility houses lab, office and meeting space for technology startups.

The American Tobacco Campus in Durham, NC, announced a new space for technology startup companies totaling 26,000 square feet, dubbed American Underground. The space is expected to be operational in October.

The Peoria, Az. City Council approved last month $200,000 to help Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute apply for a grant to establish an international bioscience consortium in the city, reports AZ Central. City developers are in talks to create a biotech incubator aimed at commercializing academic research.