GTMI Graduate Research Assistant, MSE Ph.D. Candidate, and Cytec Doctoral Fellow Christopher M. Oberste was recently named one of nine GT graduate students accepted into the TI:GER program. The TI:GER program may be his ticket to the successful commercialization of his research on printed composites.

TI:GER is housed at the GT Scheller School of Business. According to the school’s website:

TI:GER teaches students that the main hurdles to commercializing research are seldom technology-related. More often they involve legal issues and problems interfacing with the public and market.

TI:GER takes an interdisciplinary approach to surmounting those obstacles, assembling students who win acceptance into the highly competitive program into five member teams. These teams include two MBAs and two law students who focus on the commercialization of a PhD student’s research. Students from the science, engineering and computing disciplines at Georgia Tech are eligible to apply for TI:GER, which is housed at Georgia Tech College of Business.

TI:GER teams work together in the classroom and research lab to learn how to:

• Advance early-stage research into real business opportunities.
• Comprehend the economic, regulatory, and legal mechanisms affecting the venture-creation process (including patent drafting and law).
• Maximize the commercial potential of emergent research by considering market goals at an early stage of innovation.
• Understand how the potential market application of technology can influence research direction and priorities.

TI:GER students benefit from assigned business and legal mentors as well as meeting with industry representatives at biannual advisory board meetings. They also engage in consulting projects for startup companies associated with ATDC, Georgia's business incubator located at Georgia Tech. The program has received funding from a variety of sources including a National Science Foundation IGERT grant, the Alan and Mildred Peterson Foundation, the Hal and John Smith Chair in Entrepreneurship, and others.