Guest Contributor
In his opening remarks at the recently held Penn Center for Innovation’s (PCI) annual Celebration of Innovation, John Swartley, PCI’s managing director and associate vice provost for research, provided highlights from the past 2023 fiscal year. He noted that more than 100 faculty inventors were named on more than 105 issued patents and highlighted the fact that PCI and Penn affiliated startups raised over a billion dollars in capital last year, “an astounding achievement in a very difficult funding environment,” said Swartley.
He further announced that PCI executed almost 700 commercial agreements, which included sponsored research agreements that resulted in more than $135,000,000 in research funding for the University, and that “for the second year in a row, Penn posted a gross licensing income figure over a billion dollars. That is unprecedented and has resulted in Penn being acknowledged as the number one academic institution in the world in terms of gross licensing income.”
Pointing to the impact of Penn’s groundbreaking research, event keynote speaker and Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering Vijay Kumar remarked, “Too often, as academics, although we excel at basic research, we forget that our mission is to develop products that have an impact on society. And the 100 or so patents, which is close to a record number, is a true reflection of our university’s impact on society.”
This story was written by Nathi Magubane. To read the full article, please visit Penn Today.