On March 14, 2008, Governor Edward Rendell announced that the Nanotechnology Institute™ (NTI)—the region's first multi-institutional partnership for accelerating nanotechnology commercialization and company formation—was re-funded with $3.5 million from Pennsylvania. The funding comes from the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority through the Commonwealth's Pennsylvania Initiative for Nanotechnology (PIN).

"The goal of the Nanotechnology Institute is to be a catalyst for the development and commercialization of nanotechnology in the region and to identify and develop ways to overcome the barriers to commercializing the technology," says RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President and CEO of BFTP/SEP. "We navigate these barriers, providing incentives for people to think differently and giving them the motivation to try different things."

The NTI was founded in 2000 by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP), the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. Today it has grown into a comprehensive organization incorporating 12 regional research institutions centered around a common framework of technology development, intellectual property (IP) management, sponsored research and commercialization partnerships and new company formation.

Collaboration Leads to Success
This collaboration across the NTI's institutional partners has lead to significant success over the past seven years. The NTI has helped produce more than 225 IP assets, facilitated seven technology licenses, assisted in the development of 13 young companies and attracted more than $172 million in public and private investment to the region. Today the NTI is actively researching areas including biosensors, bioprobes, imaging and tissue engineering, and has recently expanded its focus beyond life sciences to include memory detection and adhesives.

“The NTI has been outstanding for the university environment in Philadelphia as well as the region in general.” —KENNETH J. BLANK, PH.D., VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH, DREXEL UNIVERSITY

"The NTI has been unique in that it brought together the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University to focus on a very new area of interface between research and commercialization," says Kenneth J. Blank, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research at Drexel University. "From the very beginnings of this new field, our researchers were able to focus on the applications of their technology, and we had a head start in the region because of the involvement of Ben Franklin in commercializing that technology. The NTI has been outstanding for the university environment in Philadelphia as well as the region in general."

Steven J. Fluharty, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research at the University of Pennsylvania, agrees. "The NTI allows Penn investigators to engage in close and meaningful collaborations with some of our region's leading nanotechnology researchers and allows the university to better partner with entrepreneurs and industry when important discoveries emerge," he says. "The NTI serves as an important vehicle in leveraging our complementary strengths to potential commercialization partners."

Leveraging State Assets
The NTI was one of six programs funded at the Governor's press conference at Carnegie Mellon University and received the largest portion of a total $9.8 million announced. The funding supports the Pennsylvania Initiative for Nanotechnology (PIN), which takes advantage of Pennsylvania's regional academic, industrial and economic assets to improve research and technology at the atomic and molecular levels.

The NTI was represented at the press conference by:

• Anthony P. Green, Ph.D., Ben Franklin Director, NTI, and Vice President, Technology Commercialization: Life Sciences, BFTP/SEP
• Robert McGrath, Ph.D., Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director, Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization, Drexel University
• Paul S. Cribbins, Assistant Vice President, Office of Government and Community Affairs, University of Pennsylvania

Today nanotechnology is being greeted as one of the key economic drivers of the 21st century. In 2005, nanotechnology was incorporated into more than $30 billion in manufactured goods. By 2014, Lux Research estimates $2.6 trillion in manufactured goods--or about 15 percent of the total global output--will incorporate nanotechnology.

Management of the NTI
The NTI's vision and execution is managed by Oversight Committee members.

• RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania
• Steven J. Fluharty, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research, and Professor of Pharmacology, Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania
• Kenneth J. Blank, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research, and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Drexel University.

The NTI is also guided by its Operating Committee consisting of representatives with expertise in all areas of commercialization.

• Anthony Green, Ph.D., Ben Franklin Director, NTI, and Vice President of Technology Commercialization: Life Sciences, BFTP/SEP
• Robert Carpick, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania Principal Investigator, NTI, and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania
• Kambiz Pourrezzaei, Ph.D., Drexel University Principal Investigator, NTI, and Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Drexel University
• Erli Chen, Ph.D., Director, Nanotechnology Commercialization Group, NTI