UCSB Created Nearly 2 Inventions per Week in 2014

by Elizabeth Acebu

Innovation is going strong at UCSB as shown by a 2014 UC Technology Report. 91 new inventions were disclosed at UCSB--one every four days on average, or nearly 2 per week.  5 new startups were created at UCSB during the same period.  And that’s just one campus:  across the entire UC System, nearly 5 new inventions were created every day in 2014.  More than 19,000 people were employed at companies started by University of California campuses in 2014. That’s a lot of jobs!

Our technology goes worldwide and brings in a lot of income for our campus too.  According to the UCSB Office of Technology Transfer, UCSB technologies are being used in 91 countries on four continents. UCSB received $3.5 million in royalty income and fees in 2014 alone.

Innovation at UCSB gets a boost from collaborations with the local tech community plus incubators and other programs like the UCSB Technology Management Program (TMP) and the Goleta Entrepreneurial Magnet.  This has led to numerous startup companies over the years and a great culture of entrepreneurship locally.  More than 35 startups have come out of the Technology Management Program!

So, if you are a student and you want to be an inventor, you should major in Engineering at UCSB.  Departments from the College of Engineering account for more than half of all patents in the UCSB portfolio:

UCSB’s top five categories of licensable technology (and number of patents in the portfolio) are:

• Semiconductors
• Energy
• Materials & Chemicals
• Optics and Photonics
• Medical

These days, you’ll find tech incubators on every UC campus, like UCSB’s TMP Program, with its unique certificates and brand new Master of Technology Program.  The whole UC system is committed to supporting inventors, and UC President Janet Napolitano formed the UC Innovation Council in 2014 to leverage the 10 campuses for innovation, entrepreneurship and technology commercialization.  The Council is a group of advisors, including entrepreneurs and investors who engage the UC community to “seek out the best practices, policies and opportunities to enhance all aspects of technology commercialization”.

Here’s to many more years of innovation at UCSB and other campuses in the UC System!

 

Image credit: UCSB Technology Transfer Office