Brock University’s commercialization activities are getting a boost from an Ontario government agency program designed to support innovation and intellectual property (IP) commercialization in post-secondary education.

Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON) announced funding for 10 post-secondary institutions across the province on Monday, April 8, with Brock receiving $299,158 for a one-year project that will help to build the University’s capacity for commercialization.

Bradley McLean, Brock LINC Associate Director, Innovation, Commercialization and Partnerships, says the IPON funding will primarily be directed to adding two staff members to work on commercial opportunities and research partnerships with industry.

“We’re focusing this support on increasing our capacity to maximize opportunities for ideas created by our community of enthusiastic and talented researchers, particularly those arising from Brock’s new Yousef Haj-Ahmad Department of Engineering and, more broadly, in the Faculty of Math and Science,” says McLean.

“We’re also looking out for inventions and creations from some very innovative staff members in the machine, electronics and glassblowing shops.”

Brock’s project involves five components:

• Hiring a Business Development Manager in Brock LINC to source new inventions and intellectual property from researchers and create and implement plans to commercialize research ideas.
• Partnering with the University of Windsor to promote each other’s intellectual property projects and commercial opportunities. Brock will also collaborate with McMaster’s Industry Liaison Office to access its expertise.
• Hiring a Research Partnerships Officer with the mandate of increasing the number of industry partnerships and supporting contract research and collaborative grant opportunities.
• Acting as an ambassador for the IPON services and supports available to Ontario companies and creating a program to help Brock’s Ontario-based small- and medium-sized enterprise partners with their IP protection and commercialization efforts.
• Creating a Brock LINC Innovation Internship Program to provide graduate students with training on the different stages of the commercialization process. Brock will collaborate with the University of Windsor to deliver this internship and support an exchange between the two universities.

McLean says he anticipates the project will lead to researchers submitting more invention disclosures “that will potentially lead to more patents filed, or other IP protection, and some exciting commercial outcomes, whether that be startup companies, commercial licenses or the basis for more industry engagement.”

He says he expects the project to result in more partnerships between Brock and industry and to offer students unique opportunities to learn and grow in the field.

“This funding is coming at a pivotal time for Brock,” says Farzana Crocco, Brock LINC’s Executive Director of Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship.

“We are seeing the growth and development of an innovation culture at the University, which is marked by an increase in commercialization interest and entrepreneurial activity,” she says. “These activities, partnerships and collaborations with industry and the community, have a clear benefit to the Brock community as well as Ontario and broader society.”

Sam Oosterhoff, Member of Provincial Parliament for Niagara West, says the IPON funding “is great news for local students and researchers in Niagara.”

“Ontario is home to some of the brightest minds in the world, and this funding will help ensure that we remain a global leader in innovation,” says Oosterhoff. “Together, we are building a strong Ontario.”

IPON is a provincial agency that provides intellectual property support and services to enable Ontario businesses and researchers to innovate and grow.