Ann Eskesen, president of the Innovation Development Institute, will lead a seminar on Thursday, Sept. 19, to help interested individuals learn how the federal Small Business Innovation Research SBIR grant program can help fund research and development as well as marketing efforts for new and existing small businesses.
Yale's Office of Cooperative Research OCR and Connecticut Innovations, Inc. are cosponsoring the workshop on the SBIR program, which emphasizes increased private sector commercialization of technology development. The workshop will be held 12:30-5 p.m. in the School of Medicine's Fitkin Amphitheater, 789 Howard Ave.
"Yale's Office of Cooperative Research is interested in exploring the establishment of new ventures as a strategy for developing technology based on Yale research," says Gregory E. Gardiner, OCR director. "The SBIR grant program can provide a significant source of funding to help get new companies started and achieve their product development and marketing goals. This workshop is intended to provide expert advice to interested faculty members and local entrepreneurs on the SBIR program and ways of improving their chances to receive an award."
Ms. Eskesen, who established the Innovation Development Institute in 1983 in Swampscott, Massachusetts, is considered to be a national expert on effective use of the federal SBIR program. She has testified before committees of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and also works closely with congressional and committee staffs and agency personnel in the development and passage of legislation and regulation which affect the climate within which small firms must function.
During the New Haven seminar, Ms. Eskesen will discuss the nuts and bolts of effective SBIR participation, ways to understand changes in SBIR and agency interpretations since reauthorization, and developing an appropriate SBIR strategy. In addition, she will outline how to prepare for the critical tasks of defining and achieving commercialization objectives and deciding where to focus.
The fee for the seminar is $45, although Yale's OCR will cover the cost for faculty and staff who wish to attend. To register, contact Ben Muskin in the OCR at 203-785-6167.