Hundreds of scientists, businessmen, academics and students gathered at the George Sherman Union on Tuesday for “Tech, Drugs, &’ Rock ‘n Roll,” a networking reception where attendees learned about the cutting-edge technologies being developed at Boston University.
BU’s Office of Technology Development collaborated with BU institutions that are involved in scientific research and entrepreneurship, including the Photonics Center, Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
We sort of had a game plan in mind,” said College of Communication junior and event coordinator Danielle Kirsch. “We wanted to showcase BU technologies, different BU startup companies, research within our university and collaborations with neighboring universities, and get them all together to network.”
Kirsch, who works at OTD, said because BU is large, not everyone knows about the research, technologies and innovation that come from the university.
This event was a chance to bring that all together and showcase it for the BU and Boston venture and entrepreneurial community,” she said.
The components are relevant,” added OTD Director of Business Development Jonathan Jensen. “Technology, tech and drugs are the life sciences’ technology, and rock ‘n’ roll is the fun part of a networking event.
At the event, groups had tables set up with interactive screens to display the history of the organization and recent projects.
The Photonics Center’s slides depicted its lab facilities, such as ones for optoelectronic processing and precision measurement and listed companies initiated inside the center’s business incubator.
OTD used their screen to feature the Kindle Mentorship Program, which provide volunteers to assist students with innovative ideas to start businesses.
The mentors in the program must have extensive business experience, said Director of New Ventures at OTD Stephen Ober.
You have to know how to work with early-stage technology and early-stage companies,” he said.
Students who have inventions can sign up to be mentored for starting companies at OTD’s website, he said.
As attendees walked around to look at displays, Joshua Tree, a cover band for U2, provided live music on the patio.
Vinit Nijhawan, the newly-appointed director of OTD, spoke at the event along with BU President Robert Brown.
The new motto of OTD is “maximize collusion, minimize friction,” Nijhawan said, and its goal is to generate new researches and ventures.
Now I want you to know that BU is open for business, he said. It can take all of you to participate.
Brown emphasized the importance of ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in his speech and announced professor of biomedical engineering Mark Grinstaff as winner of the BU Innovator of the Year Award.
It’s wonderful to be recognized, and it’s wonderful that they thought about me,” Grinstaff said. “There are many other outstanding faculty here.”
Ben Lakin, a graduate student in biochemical engineering, said he attended because it seemed like a “really neat event.”
I am interested to meet people in my industry,” he said.
OTD members were happy with the overall turnout.
We originally planned to have about 400 people, I think we probably have over 500 here, Nijhawan said. [There are] lot of good entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and of course, our BU researchers.
There were definitely challenges, but it came together pretty well, added Kirsch. Everyone was interested in the idea and very willing to get involved, and that made it easier for me.