{"689024":{"#nid":"689024","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Innovating Early: Entrepreneurship Assistants Program Is the First to Embrace Early-Stage Assessment of New Inventions for Commercialization","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt any given time, only 5% of patents filed worldwide ever get licensed, and 90% of startups fail, according to industry and U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn innovative program in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/commercialization.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EOffice of Commercialization\u003C\/a\u003E believes that assessing the commercialization potential of new inventions earlier could improve their likelihood of success in transitioning from the research lab to the commercial market.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow in its third cohort, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.research.gatech.edu\/2025\/10\/21\/quadrant-i-expanding-georgia-techs-commercialization-capacity\u0022\u003EEntrepreneurship Assistants Program\u003C\/a\u003E (EAP) pairs a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/index.html\u0022\u003EScheller College of Business\u003C\/a\u003E MBA student with a student or faculty researcher behind the invention. The students leverage a suite of market analysis tools to assess its market potential.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to simplify the process of advancing an invention to commercialization, whether through licensing or attracting funding to establish a startup,\u201d says \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/node\/4031\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPaul Joseph\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a former principal research scientist at Georgia Tech\u2019s Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology who joined the Office of Commercialization in 2023. In this new role as principal, he developed the EAP in the Office\u2019s newest unit, Quadrant-\u003Cem\u003Ei\u003C\/em\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEarly-Stage Assessments\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s program focuses on early-stage assessment of an invention\u2019s market potential.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is about de-risking the technology \u2014 to help researchers understand what\u2019s required to develop a minimum viable product to push the technology readiness level up to attract funding or investments,\u201d says Joseph.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne technology assessed by EAP recently received a $50,000 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gra.org\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Research Alliance\u003C\/a\u003E grant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/people.research.gatech.edu\/node\/21257\u0022\u003EJonathan Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Quadrant-\u003Cem\u003Ei\u003C\/em\u003E\u2019s director, hopes the program will help inspire Georgia Tech research faculty to embrace entrepreneurship more broadly.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech President \u00c1ngel Cabrera set the goal to triple the number of startups between 2019 and 2029 soon after he was appointed,\u201d recalls Goldman, noting that the program could accelerate that effort while reversing a national trend of university licensing offices losing money while helping researchers pursue startups.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is no stranger to supporting commercialization efforts with research. The EAP was derived from the National Science Foundation\u0027s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, which trains researchers and their entrepreneurial leads to do customer discovery of their innovations to develop a go\/no go decision around launching a business. Goldman served as a mentor for several Georgia Tech i-Corps teams between 2015 and 2020.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMarket Viability of New Innovations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday\u2019s EAP has attracted enthusiastic participation from Scheller College students in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/centers-and-initiatives\/tiger\/index.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnology Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER\u00ae) program\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, which integrates classroom instruction and technology-innovation projects into practical, real-world experiences.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELithium-Ion Battery Recycling\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne TI:GER participant, Analisa Wade, a former digital transformation consultant, \u0026nbsp;participated in two EAP assessments, including one during the pilot program, where she evaluated a novel approach to recycling lithium-ion batteries used to power electric cars. Handling the batteries is both costly and dangerous due to their tendency to ignite. Recycling the batteries currently costs more than mining the raw materials.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI knew nothing about lithium-ion batteries. This program allowed me to dive deep and speak with people who could help me understand how the technology has evolved.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWade worked with a master\u2019s chemistry student from a faculty inventor\u2019s lab, and both attended a conference in Detroit focused on lithium-ion battery advances to conduct customer discovery interviews and validate the value proposition of this new battery recycling technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe experience was extremely valuable, especially as a previous entrepreneur. I had experience running a business, but this gave me another way of looking at it, especially from a technological commercialization standpoint,\u201d says Wade, who will work for Microsoft after she completes her MBA in the spring.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo date, the EAP has assessed 21 breakthroughs, and the comprehensive assessment report generated by the students helped inform proposals to support commercialization.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the licensing associates in the Office of Commercialization, the reports are \u201chighly detailed, realistic, and thorough,\u201d says senior licensing associate Michael Varon. \u201cThe students invested a lot of time and energy identifying partners and potential problems. I prefer this type of assessment report over the report we get from an external assessment firm.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMary Albertson, director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/licensing.research.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EOffice of Technology Licensing\u003C\/a\u003E, says the deliverables provided to her team, including a comprehensive report and a summary video, \u201chave become the cornerstone of our marketing efforts.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe adds, \u201cOur mission is to move Georgia Tech discoveries from the benchtop to the public and make a positive impact. Communicating the stage and value of the technology to industry partners is a critical step.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEfficient Satellite Propulsion\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWilliam Trenton Gantt, a U.S. Army veteran and engineer enrolled in the TI:GER program, analyzed a Georgia Tech propellant management device that would enable satellite platforms to utilize a one-tank system instead of a two-tank system, allowing for more revenue-generating payloads. His research included customer discovery interviews with smallsat manufacturers such as Kuiper and Starfish Space, as well as SoloPulse, a radar detection company in Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe talked with them about their challenges with mission endurance and what kind of systems their satellite buses use,\u201d recalls Gantt, who is in the final semester of his MBA studies and will be working for Collins Aerospace. \u201cFor cubesats, we\u2019re seeing a lot more hybrid systems based on the use case of the satellite customers. These customers are using hybrid propulsion systems, both gas and electric, to maximize the lifespan of their cubesat assets and create as much value from them as possible. It\u2019s much more attractive for these satellite bus manufacturers to take on less equipment, so having a reduction in a fuel tank like our technology is something that\u2019s a big market need right now.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrine-Free Water Desalination\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother Georgia Tech innovation evaluated a water desalination technique called salinity exchange electrodialysis, a process that uses selective ion exchange membranes to separate seawater and wastewater and can produce high-quality desalinated water at a lower energy cost than conventional methods.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Rakesh Shankar, a master\u2019s student in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, \u201cThe technology is energy- and cost-efficient,\u201d using only one kilowatt of energy. It does not produce brine, a byproduct of wastewater that contains a high salt concentration, making it environmentally unfriendly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPascaline Ezouah, an Evening MBA student set to graduate from Scheller College in the spring, led the market analysis effort.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen looking at the technology, we identified potential customer segments that would benefit \u2014 namely, power plants, desalination plants, and data centers,\u201d she says. \u201cThe value proposition for each market is different, but the overall recommendation to the researchers was to license the technology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project hit home for Ezouah, a Ghana native born in one of the most water-stressed regions in the world.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDesalination is a really big thing \u2014 right now Ghana is having issues with fresh water because of over-mining.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EScaling the Program\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScheller College plans to offer the EAP as a three-credit course beginning this summer. The class, Technology Commercialization Practicum, will help scale the program more quickly across the Institute while also supporting Georgia Tech\u2019s commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJonathan Giuliano, professor of the practice and executive director and academic director of TI:GER, says EAP students requested that the course be created since it could serve as \u201cthe perfect capstone to their TI:GER experience.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s a win-win for both researchers and students, he added. \u201cFor researchers, the students\u2019 market, industry, and strategy analysis can inform both research grant proposals and startup funding. The benefit to students is that they further develop their skills in how to turn inventions into innovations \u2014 an important and a rare skill set not only in early-stage ventures but also in corporate innovation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech Office of Commercialization\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Commercialization is a cornerstone in transitioning the Institute\u0027s leading-edge research into real-world applications. It encompasses four pivotal units: CREATE-X, VentureLab, Quadrant-i, and Technology Licensing. These units empower students and faculty to launch startups, provide comprehensive commercialization support, manage intellectual property, and facilitate the transformation of research into viable businesses. Our mission is to provide world-class commercialization services, catalyzing research and innovation to improve the human condition and solidify Georgia Tech\u0027s position as a leader in technology and entrepreneurial impact.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith most patents never licensed and the majority of startups failing, Georgia Tech\u2019s Entrepreneurship Assistants Program (EAP) addresses a critical gap in technology commercialization by evaluating market potential at the earliest stages of invention. Housed in the Office of Commercialization\u2019s Quadrant\u2011i unit, the program pairs Scheller College of Business MBA students with Georgia Tech researchers to conduct rigorous market analysis, customer discovery, and commercialization assessments. Now in its third cohort, EAP has evaluated more than 20 innovations across sectors such as energy, aerospace, water, and advanced manufacturing, helping de\u2011risk technologies, inform licensing and startup decisions, and strengthen proposals for follow\u2011on funding\u2014while simultaneously training students in the rare and essential skill of translating research breakthroughs into real\u2011world impact.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u2019s Entrepreneurship Assistants Program accelerates the path from lab to market by pairing MBA students with researchers to assess early\u2011stage inventions, reduce commercialization risk, and strengthen licensing and startup outcomes."}],"uid":"27255","created_gmt":"2026-03-18 20:20:17","changed_gmt":"2026-03-18 20:33:00","author":"Josie Giles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-03-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-03-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"679679":{"id":"679679","type":"image","title":"commercialization-1.jpg","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA representative group of Entrepreneurship Assistants (EAs) from the Fall 2024 in the Office of Technology Licensing EA Program Cohort.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1773865227","gmt_created":"2026-03-18 20:20:27","changed":"1773865227","gmt_changed":"2026-03-18 20:20:27","alt":"Group of Georgia Tech researchers and students standing indoors at a professional event, wearing business attire and conference name badges.","file":{"fid":"263869","name":"commercialization-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/03\/18\/commercialization-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/03\/18\/commercialization-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1205815,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/03\/18\/commercialization-1.jpg?itok=gG_ub-I1"}},"679680":{"id":"679680","type":"image","title":"commercialization-2.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EEntrepreneurship Assistants (EAs) from the Spring 2024 Cohort, Hui Min Tee and Analisa Wade, presenting their assessment results on the Georgia Tech\u0027s novel lithium-ion battery recycling technology.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1773865373","gmt_created":"2026-03-18 20:22:53","changed":"1773865373","gmt_changed":"2026-03-18 20:22:53","alt":"Two presenters in a classroom setting deliver a market analysis presentation, with slides showing charts and data projected on a screen.","file":{"fid":"263870","name":"commercialization-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/03\/18\/commercialization-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/03\/18\/commercialization-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":334952,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/03\/18\/commercialization-2.jpg?itok=KRN6eXQT"}}},"media_ids":["679679","679680"],"groups":[{"id":"655285","name":"GT Commercialization"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193658","name":"Commercialization"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter: \u003C\/strong\u003EAnne Wainscott-Sargent\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lcameron30@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ELacey Cameron\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}