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Since its inception, the Incubator Program’s
mission has been “giving life to new ideas.” It
is rooted in the firm belief that ideas both come from the University
and are drawn to it. It is the Incubator’s goal to augment
the University’s special role of providing a fertile environment
for the growth and development of new ideas, and additionally
to create opportunities for the application and further evolution
of those ideas into the greater community through the channels
of commercial activity. This greater mission encompasses three
core objectives:
- Enrichment of the Academic Environment
- Technology Transfer and Commercialization
- Regional Economic Development
Enrichment of the Academic Environment
A primary motivation of the Incubator Program is to enrich the academic environment by providing an enhanced experience on both the student and faculty level. The Incubator achieves this goal by adding to the academic environment and by bringing together already existent but otherwise disjoined resources within the University. For students and faculty, the Incubator acts as a “living laboratory” where ideas generated in the classrooms and research centers can be tested in a real-world environment. As interns, “consultants,” part-time employees or entrepreneurial leaders of their own companies, students and faculty are faced head-on with the challenges of commerce and industry and so are educated in ways not often matched within the halls of academia. At the same time, the demands of enterprise encountered within the Incubator centers serve to generate further intellectual endeavors and spark new interests which can then be brought back into the classroom for additional research and experimentation.
The Incubator also helps to enrich the academic environment by coupling the various resources and strengths of the University. Business students with an eye for commercial opportunity can work with engineering students who unlock the secrets of technology and science. The wealth of Rensselaer’s laboratories, equipment, IT networks, and meeting rooms are more fully exploited as new groups, through the Incubator program, find unique applications for resource utilization.
Technology Transfer
The Incubator serves as a shelter within which new ideas can be nurtured and developed and as a gateway through which these ideas, as products, can pass safely into the commercial environment. With its experience in enterprise formation including business plan development and market research, along with its connections to the resources of the greater business community of IP attorneys, accountants, and venture capitalists, the Incubator works to add value to University research, transforming classroom ideas into marketable products. As companies with roots in Rensselaer technology succeed, they also serve as examples and models to the University, stimulating additional experimentation and research with a renewed focus on commercial application.
The Incubator Program also serves to draw new enterprises and the technologies they incorporate from the greater community into the University. Approximately one-third of Incubator companies have been started by those beyond Rensselaer, who have come to the Incubator so as to access the visibility and prestige, networking potential, and University resources that the Program offers. These outside ventures bring with them ideas and innovations that once coupled with the skills of Rensselaer faculty and students and often augmented with additional University technology can be re-exported back into the community as a successful product.
Regional Economic Development
The Incubator Program has helped launch a revolution in the once novel concept that universities could or should have an economic development role. From the high visibility successes of MapInfo, ILINC, and Albany Molecular Research, Inc. to the hundreds of smaller companies and entrepreneurs it has served, the Incubator now has a 22 year track record of furthering regional economic growth which to this day remains a core program mission. Regional economic growth benefits the University and its community in numerous and profound ways. Students are able to find part-time, summer, or, after graduation, full-time employment in the local community within fields which are dynamic and challenging and match the thirst for knowledge and innovation instilled at Rensselaer. The University’s reputation within the local community is also advanced as it is recognized as an active partner in the common goal of regional development. This in turn opens “neighborhood” resources from service providers to political support to both the Incubator Program and the University. Finally, an energized and thriving community provides a safe and exciting environment for our current and prospective students and faculty. |
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