{"175491":{"#nid":"175491","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Impact Highlighted at University System Forum","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s role in helping to strengthen the economic base of rural Georgia and in creating new companies and industries in the state was highlighted at the University System of Georgia\u2019s inaugural forum on economic development, held December 3, 2012 in Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKaren Fite, associate director of industry services for the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, joined panelists from the University of Georgia, Georgia Health Sciences University and Georgia State University in addressing how the state\u2019s research universities are impacting the economy in rural Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSince the 1960s, Georgia Tech has reached across the state through a network of regional offices to help communities and companies of all sizes develop and implement technology-driven solutions to problems and to take advantage of new opportunities,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Fite cited several examples from Georgia\u2019s food processing industry of the use of imaging, robotics and sensing technology developed by Georgia Tech scientists and engineers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStephen Fleming, Georgia Tech vice president and executive director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, moderated a panel discussion focused on generating companies and commercial opportunities from university research.\u0026nbsp; He suggested that two economic trends are at play as universities work to spin out startups from research.\u0026nbsp; \u201cAccording to a Kauffman Foundation study, all net job creation in the United States comes from young companies,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp; \u201cIn addition, big companies are no longer spending billions of dollars on research; it is now being done by universities.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFleming asked the panelists what they looked for in starting a company.\u0026nbsp; Anthony Coker, senior director of market and solutions development for Suniva, Inc., said, \u201cWe are a solar cell producer and need to be close to our markets, so our manufacturing is located wherever our customers are.\u0026nbsp; For research and development and for our corporate headquarters, however, we wanted to be close to the scientific talent at Georgia Tech.\u201d\u0026nbsp; Suniva\u2019s products are based on the technology developed in the laboratories of Regents\u2019 Professor Ajeet Rohatgi, founder of Suniva and director of Georgia Tech\u2019s federally-funded Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESerial entrepreneur David Dodd, CEO of VaxyGen Holdings Inc., agreed with Coker.\u0026nbsp; \u201cFor a startup, it is critical to be close to your research team,\u201d he said. \u201cYour real value is in the people who innovate and solve problems.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUniversity System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby told the audience of entrepreneurs, academic leaders, scientists and legislators that economic development is one of the top priorities for the state\u2019s 35 public colleges and universities.\u0026nbsp; \u201cAs was evident today, we are really doing great things in our schools, and we need to do even more to capture our faculties\u2019 innovations,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThe ideas generated at today\u2019s forum will help us do that.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s role in helping to strengthen the economic base of rural Georgia and in creating new companies and industries in the state was highlighted at the University System of Georgia\u2019s inaugural forum on economic development, held December 3, 2012 in Atlanta.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u2019s role in creating new companies and industries in the state was highlighted at a Dec. 3 economic development forum."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-12-04 22:34:36","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:18","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"52191","name":"business formation"},{"id":"815","name":"economic development"},{"id":"3671","name":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"},{"id":"52201","name":"Karen Fite"},{"id":"14525","name":"Rural"},{"id":"166994","name":"startups"},{"id":"167668","name":"Stephen Fleming"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}