Over the past 14 years, UF’s Office of Technology Licensing has launched more than 175 biomedical and technology startups.
Nationally, UF is within the top 10 in both its number of research licenses and startups, ranking seventh for licenses and eighth for startups out of 250 institutions, according to a recently published licensing survey from the Association of University Technology Managers. Licenses are used for inventions and will help a researcher get a patent for his or her product.
UF’s office is well established and well staffed, said David Day, its assistant vice president and director.
"We’ve got a great university and great research program filled with scientists that are making the world a better place," he said.
UF scientists create more than 300 inventions each year, and the office accepts about 60 percent of them, Day said.
Usually, the licensing office finds an existing company to take on the invention and invest money into it. Other times, Day said the office will help create a startup.
With the help of the office, UF computer and information sciences and engineering professor Benjamin Lok started Shadow Health, an interactive software to train nurses at more than 800 nursing schools.
"The Office of Technology Licensing connected me with investors and local entrepreneurs," Lok said.
