The inaugural Rutgers Innovation Showcase drew a strong turnout March 19, with hundreds of innovators, researchers, startup founders, investors and industry leaders coming together to spotlight and accelerate Rutgers-born discoveries.

The first-of-its-kind event brought together close to 400 attendees in New Brunswick. It featured lightning talks from 11 Rutgers research teams and 12 university-affiliated startups. Additionally, 73 research groups gave poster presentations spanning fields such as agricultural technology and food, life sciences and health, engineering and physical sciences, and software and data/artificial intelligence.

Eight Rutgers core facilities also participated, highlighting the university’s specialized labs and technical resources available to support innovation as well as commercialization.

“The turnout of this inaugural event is a powerful demonstration that Rutgers leads research in New Jersey, drives the future of innovation, improves lives, and fuels economic growth across the region,” said Michael Zwick, senior vice president for Research at Rutgers. “This event opened the door to advancing innovation from ideas to impact.”

Building a network

Organizers emphasized the Rutgers Innovation Showcase’s role in connecting researchers with potential partners and investors.

“The inaugural Rutgers Innovation Showcase provided Rutgers researchers a fantastic opportunity to present their work to potential investors and collaborators, and they all did a fantastic job,” said Deborah Perez Fernandez, executive director of the technology transfer unit within the Office for Research. OfR supports researchers through processes such as patenting, licensing, and commercializing innovations.

The event also builds on the continued work by Rutgers’ Office for Research to strengthen pathways from academic discovery to real-world application and commercialization. More information is available here.

“The Office for Research, through its New Ventures and Technology Transfer units, are proud to facilitate such a great opportunity for both current and former Rutgers researchers as well as local, national, and international industry representatives to work together to advance the important work that is happening on a daily basis at the university,” said Vince Smeraglia, executive director of the New Ventures unit within the OfR, which works with Rutgers startups before and after their launch.

“We look forward to the results of these partnerships and collaborations.”