Statewide Symposium at Lehigh Focuses on Turning Innovation Into Opportunity

The transformation of research into tangible products and programs that benefit society was the focus of the Powering PA’s Future Symposium held at Lehigh’s Mountaintop campus on Friday.

Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, state officials and university leaders from across the commonwealth were among those who attended the event held in the Wood Dining Room at Iacocca Hall. The symposium aimed to bring these sectors together to help grow Pennsylvania’s innovation economy, where new ideas, products and technologies are created, applied and commercialized to drive economic growth.

Addressing the crowd, Provost Nathan Urban said it was fitting to hold the symposium at Iacocca, one of eight buildings that were part of Bethlehem Steel’s Homer Research Labs complex. Lehigh took over the complex in 1986.

“We have taken over this campus and see it as a place for the kind of innovation, the kind of partnerships with for-profit companies that are critical to the economic development that we see playing an important role here in the Lehigh Valley, and more broadly, across Pennsylvania,” Urban said.

Ben Kirshner, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s chief transformation and opportunity officer, spoke at the event, which in addition to Lehigh was hosted by Pennsylvania’s Office of Transformation and Opportunity and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED).

Innovation is a key part of Shapiro’s economic development policy for Pennsylvania because it drives growth and high-paying jobs, Kirshner said. He highlighted a recent report from McKinsey Global Institute outlining more than a dozen research-driven industries that could reshape the global economy. They include artificial intelligence software and services, cybersecurity, air mobility, robotics, nonmedical biotechnology and drugs for obesity and related conditions.

Shapiro’s plan seeks to address workforce shortages, ease challenges for startups and tech spinoffs and boost funding for economic development incentives. Shapiro said his administration will continue working to connect the dots on the discoveries happening at Pennsylvania’s startups and universities with the business community.

“I believe that when we support our entrepreneurs, our researchers and our innovators, then we’re driving economic opportunity that spreads across other industries as well,” Shapiro said. “Thank you for doing this critical work that we all want to do together to create economic opportunity all across Pennsylvania. I look forward to watching your discoveries change the world.”

Research Translation AcceLUrator

In order to have a greater societal impact, faculty need to find ways to commercialize their research, said Rick Smith, director of Lehigh’s Office of Technology Transfer.

In addition to the societal benefits of new innovation, such development also brings recognition to universities producing the work and helps companies build their brand if they can introduce these innovations. Projects being funded by Lehigh’s ART grant are part of the Research Translation AcceLUrator program.

Some of the projects underway this year at Lehigh as part of the ART grant include:

• A real-time resiliency assessment platform for electricity infrastructure, which addresses the need for energy systems to quickly recover from extreme events.
• Acoustic modems for real-time underwater wireless communications which would allow for the real-time sharing of videos and images underwater.
• MABLE or Mapping for Accessibility in Built Environments, which seeks to improve indoor navigation for people with disabilities by creating digital maps.

The Start of a Statewide Collaboration

“The ART grant served as the catalyst for the conversation,” Coulter said.

“My hope is that this is the start of a statewide collaboration that helps us all get better, including the state government, at working together and leveraging federal opportunities when possible,” Coulter said. “The hope is that this is the first of such meetings and far from the last.”

Greg Jackson, executive vice president of Life Sciences Greenhouse Investments in Harrisburg, attended the symposium because he’s interested in attracting and retaining new talent.

“Some of it is about the branding, letting young, innovative people know they don’t have to move to California to start a company, they can do it here,” Jackson said, adding that he likes the idea of an online portal advertising jobs at startup companies in Pennsylvania.

Angelo Valletta, president and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, located on the Mountaintop campus, was among those in attendance on Friday. In partnership with the DCED, Ben Franklin is an incubator network that provides startups and early-stage companies with an environment to boost their growth and refine their business strategies.

Valletta said Pennsylvania needs more collaboration between its universities, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to determine how to create sustainable, high-paying jobs. He said Shapiro’s administration has done a good job at promoting innovation in Pennsylvania.

“Now it’s up to all of us, universities, venture development, venture capitalists, business leaders, to come together and take that strategy and lift it. That’s where the collaboration and synergies come from.”