On June 24th, Lehigh University held the fourth event in its Research Translation AcceLUrator (RTA) and STEM-Summer Institute (STEM-SI) speaker series, led by Lisa Getzler, Lehigh University’s Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship. Prior to serving in her current role, Getzler was the Director of the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, and Associate Director of Lehigh’s award-winning Integrated Product Development (IPD) program.
Getzler began by asking the RTA Fellows what they were looking forward to in the upcoming week, and got numerous responses with a variety of themes. The icebreaker was the first example to show what she was going to discuss: Use-Inspired Research – an approach that bridges the gap between fundamental scientific research and practical applications that can segue into the real world.
She expressed how getting to know the end goals and uses of your project is very important for research. Making connections that can provide a basis for what needs to be done is crucial. She said many researchers get lost in their own passion and forget what they’re making things for, and can't back down. Instead, it is key to keep the use of the product top of mind.
Getzler asked the fellows what they learned from their first meeting with the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps). The resounding finding was that you have to keep an open conversation throughout the development of your project, and not confine yourself when asking questions to potential customers. Keeping things open-ended to gauge what is truly desired is the first step to Use-Inspired Research. If the project has more potential uses, or if no one truly wants to use it, it’s a good base point for expanding or contracting.
What people want vs what is provided to them was another topic tied to the concept of open questions. Though often opposing forces, a true researcher can connect all they've learned from consumers to provide products that fill the gap consumers face. Open-mindedness and an entrepreneurial mindset allows researchers to use learned input about demographics in combination with the base goal to create projects from Use-Inspired Research.
Diving into the team’s projects, Getzler asked the RTA Summer Interns about what their research could and could not do. She emphasized that in a world with many similar concepts, you should be able to know the limits and easily clarify what sets you apart within your niche. For example, students shared that with Professor John Fox’s water treatment project it could create energy efficient water cleaning and electricity, but it could not create excess waste and carbon dioxide – something that is a great benefit of the project.
Getzler shared how entrepreneurial thinking was essential to see how all the pieces fit together, how to express your research and goals to customers, and how to constantly consider them while working. Use-Inspired Research is something RTA and I-Corps prioritize to help develop both commercialization skills and applied scientific thinking to benefit their researchers.