So what? who cares? why you?^® -
The Cool Blue Lab Journal Project

Project Name:

The Cool Blue Lab Journal

Project Initiator:

Penn State Innovation Park & Research Commercialization Office

Project Contact:

Dan Leri, Director, Innovation Park
Tel: 814-865-5925, email: danleri@psu.edu

Project Goals:

1. Create a first step "Commercialization Toolkit" for scientists, researchers, engineers, students, and technology entrepreneurs in the Penn State community to self educate and better prepare our entrepreneurial target audience.
2. Provide a systematic approach to evaluate technology opportunities and logically allocate limited university business assistance resources.
3. To methodically raise the awareness of faculty and staff regarding the key business elements required to license a technology or to launch a new company.

Project Summary:

Wendy Kennedy's So what? who cares? why you?^®: The Inventor's Commercialization Toolkit, has been adopted by Innovation Park at Penn State University and co-branded to reflect the "Cool Blue" theme of Innovation Park. The book covers feature the "The Cool Blue Lab Journal," and the logos of the sponsor organizations. Innovation Park and sponsor organizations will distribute the book as a how-to guide and toolkit to assist researchers, faculty, students, and the entrepreneurial community to self-educate on the business aspects of commercializing an idea. Book owners will also have access to the online knowledge portal, The ToolShed, that supports the book with tutorials, downloadable templates, narrated walk-thru examples, and annotated reference materials.

Relationship to other initiatives:

The commercialization toolkit will help the target audience self educate and better prepare for discussions with the intellectual property protection, business assistance and funding infrastructure of Penn State and the private sector.

Project Timeline:

• Two months to complete
• The commercialization toolkits were available for first distribution, following a "kick-off" presentation by Wendy Kennedy at the CrossOver 2006 technology conference at Penn State University Park campus on October 12, 2006.

Schedule:

• Sponsor commitments complete - Sept 8, 2006
• 6 sponsor representatives - funding support, product distribution, workshop participant selection
• Cover modifications reviewed and approved - Sept 18, 2006
• Cool Blue Lab Journal to printer - Sept 20, 2006
• Lab Journals were available at Oct 12, 2006 CrossOver event and coincided with Wendy Kennedy Keynote

Sponsorship Model:

• Local and state-level sponsors participated to share costs and expand distribution to local audiences
• Sponsors include: Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Centre County Industrial Development Corporation, Chamber of Business and Industry Centre County, iTech 99, Keystone Innovation Zone, and Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania.

Distribution:

• To faculty, staff, students, incubator prospects, and qualified sponsor prospects contemplating the start up of a company.