This is true whether that pair is a faculty member and investor, a researcher and a hospital system or a laboratory and a corporate partner, he said. In an innovation economy where speed is critical, knowing who to call and how to work together can mean the difference between success and stagnation. That’s where Delaware stands out.

Callahan pointed to Delaware’s small size as one of its greatest strengths. With a population of just over a million people and a geography that allows for traveling the length of the state in only two hours, the chance of bumping into someone you know is strong. This can lead to informal trust building that takes decades to create elsewhere, he said.

Delaware is home to a vibrant innovation community, lending institutions, legacy corporate and industry partners, too, that together can quickly form pathways to bring ideas to commercialization. What’s required now is an institution — a leader — to forge ahead to bring an AI-enabled innovation economy to life. 

“If the University of Delaware leads the way, I believe the rest of Delaware entrepreneurial ecosystems will follow. The flag must be planted here,” said Callahan, who serves on Delaware’s AI Commission and is a board member for the Delaware Prosperity Partnership. 

Callahan called the ongoing federal funding uncertainty an opportunity to strengthen partnerships with industry. He pointed to Wayne Westerman, a former UD doctoral student who, with the help of his adviser, John Elias, helped create touchscreen technology. They started a company called Fingerworks to sell their innovation, which grew out of Westerman’s doctoral thesis. Not long after, Apple bought their technology and hired them.

“When you think about things that have changed the world,” said Callahan, “a trillion-dollar company on the West Coast probably wouldn’t be there if this hadn’t happened right here” in Delaware. 

University of Delaware President Laura Carlson reminded audience members that UD is a world-class research institution where exploration is grounded by the principles to “inquire with impact” and to “innovate with intention.”

“Here, entrepreneurial thinking is not an add-on. It is a habit of mind, infused into everything we do,” said Carlson. 

UD is one of 18 institutions nationwide selected by NSF to launch the Accelerating for Research Translation (ART) program, with Princeton University serving as a key mentor institution. NSF ART is helping strengthen the UD culture, infrastructure and pathways that support translation across campus. 

Speakers at the event acknowledged that shifting the culture so that commercialization is done alongside scholarly achievement is an important step that can encourage more researchers to participate in research translation. UD has already updated its promotion and tenure criteria, recognizing entrepreneurial work. 

Already UD innovations have changed how the world communicates, how medicines are made, and how energy is captured and used. 

“Those breakthroughs didn't happen by accident,” noted Fabrice Veron, interim vice president for research,scholarship and innovation. “They happened because researchers wanted and were encouraged and supported to transform discovery into the world.”

Consider UD Innovation Ambassador Jason Gleghorn’s cutting-edge organ-on-a-chip model. Gleghorn, associate professor of biomedical engineering, developed the innovative model to provide faster, less expensive ways to study disease or develop needed pharmaceutical targets. The clamshell-like device is adaptable for studying any number of systems, from the female reproductive tract to the placenta, lung, lymph nodes and more. Gleghorn and colleagues at the University of Maryland recently reported new findings in Science Advances about sexually transmitted infections using a cervix-on-a-chip model built using Gleghorn’s device. It’s work that was supported with seed translational research funding through UD’s NSF ART program.

Gleghorn has since launched two startups out of his UD research, including a company called Synthrya that leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to read amino acids, the language of life. Developed alongside UD doctoral candidate Logan Hallee, Synthrya’s design tools enable researchers to better understand how proteins function in an organism (say, human or plant) or in a pathogen. This understanding can inform what’s known about how proteins function in a cell, and subsequently, the design of therapeutics to activate or inactivate target cells to treat a broad range of diseases, from cancer to autoimmune diseases. Gleghorn was among four UD researchers who shared a total of $140,000 in additional seed funding for research translation at the annual symposium to further their translational work.

UD’s Innovation Ambassadors, including Gleghorn, are among the change agents who play a vital role on campus as advisors, leaders and connectors. They willingly share their know-how and offer support so that others — especially students — can translate their discoveries into real-world impact.

UD also offers support through programming in Horn Entrepreneurship, NSF ART, NSF I-Corps Northeastern Hub, Delaware EPSCoR, the First State AI Institute and corporate engagement initiatives, to name a few examples. Meanwhile, the Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP), the unit responsible for managing intellectual property at UD, is standing by to assist and support researchers and innovators in their translation journey. This fall, OEIP is expected to launch a new social innovation marketplace, designed to move campus ideas — such as programs, tools and community solutions — into practical use beyond the university.

“If we want faculty and students to be part of the tsunami of innovation stemming from AI, we can't ask them to wait … it’s happening too fast,” said Callahan. 

Institutions can support innovative faculty in finding capital for new startups, support researchers trying to make the shift toward commercialization, and provide faculty, students and startup owners with career training and education to navigate the venture capital path.

What’s needed now, Callahan said, is to pair that institutional support with a matchmaking engine that connects UD researchers directly with venture investors and corporate partners, seed funding to help innovators scale their translational research, faster deals and a culture that rewards impact.

Experts throughout the day reminded attendees that innovation requires a mindset that considers what the market wants and then looks for opportunities to fill those gaps. This is where university innovators can shine. Learning to speak about your innovation in terms anyone can understand, requires work, but is critical so that others can get behind the important work you have underway, speakers said.

Translating discoveries to market also necessitates understanding the industry or company you would want to collaborate with or sell your innovation or product to and making concerted connections to build trust and foster partnership. 

“The sooner you are part of the community you are serving, the better you set yourself up for a smooth transition,” said Sabrina Devito, co-founder and CEO, Find My Chapter 3, and a member of UD’s ART advisory council.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2331440.