COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The commercialization offices of Texas A&M University, the Engineering Experiment Station, the Transportation Institute, AgriLife Research, and the Technology Commercialization office have now been combined into one commercialization department that's dedicated to the creation of more startups and patents.
“What we're going to do going forward is function as a single unit with the full support and horsepower of Texas A&M, of the entirety of the system," Chief Innovation Officer Peter O’Neill said. "I've already had tremendous outreach from the alumni network.”
O’Neill has experience in commercialization at the Cleveland Clinic, which is one of the country's leaders in health care, but Texas A&M is more than just health care, according to the CIO.
“Coming to A&M because there’s significant health care work, there’s significant energy work, there’s significant agricultural, there’s significant engineering work," O’Neill said. "It's exciting and we need to be attentive to give all those areas appropriate attention.”
Now A&M researchers will be better equipped to form companies and license technology to address national and global challenges, making the Texas A&M commercialization enterprise a national model and leader among all other universities in the U.S.
“I think it's part of our job to do good deals on behalf of the enterprise and the inventors involved there, but we're mostly focused on translating research into products that customers want and will use,” O’Neill said.
In his first couple of days in Aggieland, O’Neil says he already noticed a real resilience, and perseverance that he thinks is critical to successful commercialization.