New UAH display honors patent holders, encourages more

From left, Dr. Ray Vaughn, vice president for research and economic development, and Kannan Grant, UAH Office of Technology Commercialization director, at the new patent display.

Michael Mercier | UAH

A display honoring members of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) faculty and staff for their achievements in patenting intellectual property has been erected near the Office of Technology Commercialization in the Von Braun Research Center.

"We wish to recognize our faculty and researchers who also become inventors and the patent wall is a good way to accomplish that," says Dr. Ray Vaughn, vice president for research and economic development.

The wall display is intended to be both acknowledgement and encouragement, Dr. Vaughn says.

"The wall serves to display our faculty and researcher patent accomplishments for others to see, and to serve as a constant reminder of their achievements," he says. "Patents are often the foundation for a start-up company and in our economic development role we wish to promote their success."

UAH Office of Technology Commercialization Director Kannan Grant says the university has been awarded over 16 patents since 2010, with half of them coming in 2014 alone. His office works to commercialize the intellectual property of UAH faculty and researchers.

"The patent wall is a way of recognizing the unique and novel contribution our faculty and researchers have in their field of expertise," Grant says. "Together, our challenge is to find ways to have the fruits of their labor be made available commercially for public consumption."