LTU National Academy of Inventors chapter holds organizational meeting

SOUTHFIELD-Faculty, students, staff, and alumni at Lawrence Technological University gathered Tuesday to celebrate the inaugural meeting of the LTU chapter of the National Academy of Inventors.

Anne DiSante, executive director of MSU Technologies, Michigan State University's technology transfer operation to take academic discoveries to the marketplace, told the audience about NAI's support and programs for university researchers and would-be entrepreneurs. Included are an annual conference, student support, and mentorship programs.

DiSante said NAI was founded in 2010 with a focus on academic inventors. Its 300 university chapters and 1,898 NAI Fellows are responsible for more than 63,000 patents, over 1.2 million jobs created, more than 4,000 new companies founded, and $3.2 trillion in business revenue.

LTU President Tarek Sobh told the audience that the NAI chapter establishment was part of the university's transformation from primarily a teaching institution to a research-focused university. He said that over the past three and a half years, the dollar value of sponsored research at LTU has risen from less than a million dollars a year to almost $12 million last year-with further growth anticipated.

Roger Harrison, LTU NAI chapter president and project engineer for the LTU Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, noted that the chapter was the final professional goal of Kenneth Cook, a beloved professor of engineering technology whose teaching career at LTU spanned six decades. Cook passed away in March at the age of 82.

A panel discussion on invention and entrepreneurship followed DiSante's keynote address. LTU University Historian Bruce Annett noted that LTU already has a long history of invention and innovation, with its alumni responsible for inventions like the child safety car seat, remote keyless car entry, and instruments on NASA Mars rovers.

And Andrew Gerhart, professor in LTU's A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical, Robotics and Industrial Engineering, said that entrepreneurship among academics is as much a mindset as it is a skill set-and having an NAI chapter on campus is a step toward encouraging that mindset.

Dennis Shaver, product development program director at LTU's Centrpeolis Accelerator, spoke of how students' enthusiasm can also lead to innovation and discovery. One example, he said, was an invention of a shelter that required no tools or fasteners to assemble. When shown to a group of students, Shaver said, the students came up with 25 additional applications for the invention beyond merely a shelter.

For more information on the LTU NAI chapter, contact Harrison at [email protected]or (248) 204-2561.

More about NAI at https://academyofinventors.org/about-nai/.