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Summer 2014
InnovationSpotlight 
A Newsletter from the UMass Office of Economic Development
TABLE OF CONTENTS
President's Welcome: UMass Makes $6B Impact on State Economy
Conducting World-Class R&D
Technology Commercialization & Entrepreneurship
Developing Future Talent
Economic Analysis for the Commonwealth

 

Business Leaders React to Economic Impact Study

 

"Massachusetts is home to many robust sectors of the innovation economy - information technology, life sciences, clean energy, defense and more - and the University of Massachusetts engages with each of them successfully, in research and development as well as in education and workforce development.  A strong public higher education system is key to having a successful innovation economy, and this report illustrates how the state's investment in UMass yields huge returns."

-- Donna Cupelo, region president of Verizon New England and board chair of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable.

 

~~~~

 

"The economic contributions of the University of Massachusetts go beyond the traditional centers of higher education in Greater Boston - they span the entire Commonwealth, creating a positive economic impact statewide as a catalyst for growth in every region throughout Massachusetts."

-- Dan O'Connell, president & CEO of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership.

 

 ~~~~

 

"Research is a major source of economic growth and jobs across the Commonwealth, and the University of Massachusetts has been very successful in leveraging federal research funding into new companies, products, technologies, and innovation. Its impact on business - through incubators and small-business support centers as well as the construction of new research centers and academic facilities, to name a few examples - has leveraged and supported a tremendous amount of economic activity throughout our economy"

-- John F. Fish, chair of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and chairman & CEO of Suffolk Construction Company Inc.

 

 

 

 

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

CONTACTS

 

 Tom Chmura

Vice President for

Economic Development

[email protected]

 

Doug Banks

Associate Vice President for Economic Development

[email protected]

 

 UMass Donahue Institute

Lynn Griesemer

Executive Director;

Associate Vice President for Economic Development

 

 Commercial Ventures & Intellectual Property (CVIP)

William Rosenberg

Executive Director

[email protected]  

 

 Mass. Tech Transfer Center

Abigail Barrow

Director

[email protected]

 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
CAMPUS

CONTACTS

 

UMass Amherst  

James Capistran

Executive Director, UMass Innovation Institute

[email protected]

 

 UMass Boston

John Ciccarelli

Associate Vice Chancellor for Govt. Relations & Public Affairs

[email protected]

 

 UMass Dartmouth

 Louis Goodman

Interim Vice Chancellor

for Research &

Economic Development

[email protected]

 

 UMass Lowell

 Steven Tello

Associate Vice Chancellor,

Entrepreneurship and 

Economic Development

[email protected]

 

 UMass Medical School

 James Leary

Vice Chancellor,

Community & Govt. Relations

[email protected]

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

UMASS ALUMNI ENTREPRENEURSHIP

NETWORKING EVENT

 

August 5, 2014

5:30p - 7:30p

MassChallenge

Boston

 

Register Here

 

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@UMassEconDev

 

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Integrated Sciences Complex

UMass Boston

Opening mid-2014

  UMB Integrated Sciences Bldg     

Press Release 

 

 

 

 

 

 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

 

Stay informed of the latest technology activities with the latest:

UMass CVIP Newsletter

 

 

Keep up with MTTC news with the latest

MTTC Newsletter

and follow on Twitter

  
  

 

 

GREETINGS!

   

InnovationSpotlight is an electronic newsletter
designed to highlight research, innovation and talent development across the University of Massachusetts
and its five campuses and their impact on the Commonwealth's innovation economy.

UMass Makes $6B Impact on State Economy

 

Robert L. Caret

 

Dear Friends of UMass:

 

It's well known that the University of Massachusetts provides affordable, high-quality education and conducts cutting edge research that advances innovation and improves the lives of people across the Commonwealth and the world. Lesser known is the role of UMass as a key contributor to the state's overall economy - a $6.1 billion impact last year. That figure represents a significant increase over the past three years, driven by unprecedented growth in construction and spending on UMass research, faculty and students, according to a newly released report by the UMass Donahue Institute. The University has campuses in Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell and a Medical School in Worcester, and also operates programs in 75 other sites across the state. 

 

Findings of the report, which can be downloaded here, highlight the unique nature of UMass as an anchor institution that uses and leverages its resources to contribute directly to various regions across the Commonwealth. We are committed to continuing to expand our influence and support economic growth in the Commonwealth, whenever and wherever there is an opportunity to make a difference.

 

The UMass system and its five campuses are a strategic investment for the state. The Commonwealth's $519 million investment in the UMass system in fiscal 2013 helped leverage and support $6.1 billion in economic activity in Massachusetts - that's $12 in economic output for every $1 in state money that UMass received.

 

The $6.1 billion that UMass contributed to the Massachusetts economy represented more than a 25 percent increase over the $4.8 billion the University generated for the state in FY 2010, the last time a similar study was done.

Some additional ways UMass affects the Commonwealth's economy include:

  

  •  Producing more than 16,000 graduates a year, most of whom remain in Massachusetts;
  • Conducting about $600 million in sponsored research annually;
  • Generating breakthroughs and discoveries that create new companies and new jobs, and converting our high-quality research into licensing income of about $35 million a year.

 

Additional highlights from the Donahue Institute study: 

 

  • Massachusetts jobs associated with the University's activities climbed to 45,334, about a third more than the 33,321 jobs in 2010.
  • Construction-related activities in FY 2013 accounted for $1.1 billion, which supported 6,356 jobs. System-wide, construction activity was more than double the value it was three years ago.

 

 

These activities demonstrate the continuing positive impact of UMass in the Commonwealth and around the world as a result of the state's investment in the University of Massachusetts.

 

Sincerely,

 

Robert L. Caret

President

 

CONDUCTING WORLD-CLASS R&D

UMass R&D Spending Report Shows Nearly $600M in R&D Expenditures in FY 2013

UMass R&D expenditures have grown every year over the past decade, until last year, when federal sequestration cutbacks and the government shutdown led to declines in research spending for research institutions across the nation. Even with the cutbacks in federal research spending, the University has outperformed the national average in growth every year during that time, and expects that its 1% decline in R&D spending will be narrower than the losses seen at other major research institutions.  Total fiscal 2013 R&D expenditures for the UMass system were $591 million, the report showed.  A PDF version of the full report is available on the website.
  

UMass Lowell Hires Experienced Leader in University-Industry Partnerships

 

The UMass Innovation Institute (UMII), an office that acts as a one-stop shop for industry looking to partner with UMass on R&D initiatives, has expanded to Lowell with the hiring of the UMass Lowell Innovation Institute Executive Director, Wayne Johnson, former Assistant Vice President of Corporate Relations at CalTech, who has senior industry experience at HP, Microsoft and Raytheon.

A fuller biosketch can be found on The UMass Lowell Website

 

MassBiologics Receives $5M MLSC Capital Grant

Gov. Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) announced a $5M grant to UMass Medical School's MassBiologics in Mattapan to fund major lab renovations for a GMP gene-therapy manufacturing facility.

For more information, read the MassBiologics Press Release

  

UMass Boston, N.E. Aquarium Launch Partnership

UMass Boston and the New England Aquarium launched a first-of-its-kind partnership in which researchers from the Aquarium will teach courses at UMass Boston (12 researchers have already been named faculty members at UMass Boston's School for the Environment), and the two institutions will share lab facilities in Boston and at their field stations, among other examples of collaboration.

Read more at Boston Globe 

 

 

Sobkowicz-Kline
Bowen
Drew
Tootkaboni
     
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

UMass Faculty Receive NSF 'Career' Awards

Four faculty members from three UMass campuses received the National Science Foundation's early career development award, its most prestigious award for junior faculty.  Lowell's Meg Sobkowicz-Kline, UMass Boston's Jennifer Bowen and UMass Dartmouth's Mazdak Tootkaboni and Rob Drew, each received awards. Sobkowicz-Kline, an assistant professor in the Plastics Engineering Department, was awarded $400K over five years to study applications of bio-based plastics and using polymers for new energy applications, such as organic photovoltaics. Bowen, an assistant professor of Biology and affiliate faculty in the School for the Environment, was awarded an $875K grant over five years to study how degraded salt marshes can be restored to protect our coastal waters and coastal communities. Drew, assistant professor in Biology, was awarded $850,000 over 5 years to study the the mutually beneficial relationship between clownfish and sea anemones; and Tootkaboni, assistant professor in civil engineering, was awarded $400K over five years to study methods to analyze and predict the stability of critical infrastructure.   
Read more at UMass Lowell News 
Read more at UMass Boston News

 

UMass Strengthens Position as Resource and Partner to Natick Soldier Systems Center

A recent meeting of the Natick Soldier Systems Center S&T Advisory Board highlighted the Center's partnership efforts with UMass, which has positioned itself as a resource to the many research labs doing cutting-edge R&D at Natick Labs and as a significant partner in the state government's efforts to strengthen ties between the Natick Labs installation and the state. Collaborations include Dartmouth's expanding joint research in bioengineering, pathogen sensors & anti-microbial fabrics; strengthening of Lowell's Harnessing Emerging Research Opportunities to Empower Soldiers (HEROES) program; and exploring R&D projects and funding opportunities with Amherst's new Institute for Applied Life Sciences, food science, and kinesiology faculty.

 

Wind Energy Research Center Receives NSF Funding

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded funding to a new wind energy "Industry/University Cooperative Research Center" headed by UMass Lowell that is expected to add more than $500K from NSF and as much as $750K from industry partners over the next 5 years.  The Wind Energy, Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR) Center will foster long-term collaborations among industry, academia, and government to make wind energy more cost-effective and to develop an innovative and competitive workforce.

Read more at UMass Lowell News
  

UMass Boston Part of a $1M DOD Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative in Chemical Processing

UMass Boston was part of a multi-university team awarded a five-year $1M research grant by the US Department of Defense to develop "theoretical and experimental methods for predicting mechanisms of complex chemical processes." The team was led by the University of Missouri and included U Cal Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Merced and Northwestern. The UMass Boston effort will be led by Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jason Green. Read more at UMass Boston FY14 Sponsored Awards.

 

Dean Flotte Briefs Congress on Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Model

 

Terence R. Flotte, MD, Dean of the UMass Medical School, was among a panel of cystic fibrosis experts that provided a congressional briefing on the benefits of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's model of specialized, coordinated care and its innovative strategies for drug development, and how they can serve as an example for other rare, chronic diseases.
Read more at UMass Med Now 

 

UMass Amherst Marine Station Director Wins Environmental Award 

 

Molly Lutcavage of the UMass Large Pelagics Research Center in Gloucester has received the Sarah Fraser Robbins Environmental Award, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the study or protection of seashore populations. Dr. Lutcavage was selected by a committee of the Board of Maritime Gloucester for her work to protect endangered and threatened species including sea turtles and bluefin tuna; her work mentoring graduate students; her commitment to cooperative research and her work with local fishermen on her tuna-tracking program; and her strong commitment to a thriving fishing, research and maritime economy on Cape Ann.
Read more at Gloucester Times
  
TECHNOLOGY
COMMERCIALIZATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Waters CEO Berthiaume Donates $10M to UMass Amherst for Entrepreneurship Center

 

The Amherst campus will use a $10M gift from alumnus Douglas Berthiaume to create a "world-class" entrepreneurship center within its business school. The donation was made by Berthiaume, who is chairman, president and CEO of Milford-based analytical technologies company Waters Corp., and his wife, Diana. A longtime supporter of the university, Berthiaume graduated from the Isenberg School of Management and is co-chair of the university's $300M fundraising campaign "UMass Rising."

Read more at Boston.com
  

Third Rock Ventures Launches Voyager Therapeutics with Two UMass Medical Co-Founders

Voyager Therapeutics, a gene therapy company founded by four world leaders in the fields of AAV gene therapy, RNA biology and neuroscience, including Guangping Gao, director of the UMass Medical Gene Therapy Center & Vector Core, and Phillip Zamore, co-director of the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMMS launched this spring with a $45M investment from Third Rock Ventures. Voyager seeks to develop life-changing treatments for fatal and debilitating diseases of the central nervous system.

Read more at
Boston Globe
  

MTTC Sponsors 7th Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation (MALSI) Day

 

The MTTC held another successful MALSI Day.  MALSI is considered the premier event of the year for life sciences start-ups in the state.  This year it brought together 400 scientific leaders, business experts, innovators, post-docs, faculty, entrepreneurs and investors  to the Harvard Club in Boston to interact with 33 groups of presenters with innovative and potentially commercial ideas.  UMass Med School brought a delegation of representatives from the MassTERI programs so that they could network and learn about commercialization opportunities.  Mark Levin of Third Rock was the opening keynote speaker and talked about Third Rock's decision to create and fund Voyager Therapeutics which has licensed technology from the Med School.  Senator Karen Spilka joined the event for the reception and awarded the poster prizes (pictured here).

  

UMass Approves 1st Investment in UMass Start-up Under New Trustee Policy

SVP/Treasurer Christine Wilda and her investment committee of campus CFOs have approved an equity investment in an Amherst spin-out - Felsuma, which is based on an Amherst technology called "Geckskin", a super-adhesive material developed by polymers and biology scientists named by CNN Money as one of the Top Ten Technologies of 2012.  Geckskin had been the recipient of a 2012 CVIP technology development award and a participant in MTTC's "platform" to assist the start-up of new companies in 2013.  The initial UMass investment will be for $200K and part of a $2M series A round of financing. 

Read more at UMass Amherst News & Media Relations

  

MLSC Funds Entrepreneurship in Lowell, Boston

Gov. Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) announced capital grants to UMass Boston and Lowell that will expand their successful technology incubators. The grants were for $589K to UMass Boston to help build a fifth ready-to-use wet laboratory within the Venture Development Center, and for $4M to UMass Lowell to expand the successful Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) to enable startup companies to receive funding and mentoring from larger, established science and technology companies.

For more information, go to UMass Boston News or UMass Lowell News
  

President Caret Announces Faculty Grants to Aid in Bringing Research to Market

University of Massachusetts President Robert L. Caret has announced eight projects on three campuses to receive $200,000 in technology grants from the Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property (CVIP) Technology Development Fund to assist faculty in accelerating the commercialization of their inventions. This is the 11th straight year that CVIP, which is responsible for bringing to market discoveries made on the University system's five campuses, has awarded grants to support cutting-edge faculty research.  The program has led to numerous commercial licenses and patents, five start-up companies and more than $3 million in additional research funding for the recipients.
Read more at UMass News
  

Gov. Patrick Announces Funding for UMass Lowell Innovation Hub

 

Gov. Deval Patrick has announced the location of University of Massachusetts Lowell's new Innovation Center at 110 Canal Street in the Hamilton Canal District of Lowell. The governor also announced $1 million in additional capital funding to help complete the construction of the building, which will house UMass Lowell's new Innovation Hub and the expansion of the university's successful Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2).

Read more at UMass Lowell News

  

UMass Amherst Innovation Challenge Awards $65K to Biz Plan Winners

The UMass Innovation Challenge Finals were held this spring, the culmination of a four-stage annual competition open to all UMass campuses, where teams of students, faculty and recent alumni draft business plans based on technology developed on campus and compete for cash awards. The awards are supported entirely by private contributions. Over $65K was awarded to students and recent alumni from multiple UMass campuses.  This year, the estate of Robert Glass and his wife Sandra Glass established a $575K endowment to support the Innovation Challenge, including a new 'product demonstration' award to the most promising team in the early stages of the challenge.

Read more about the Glass Award.  For more information on the winners: UMass Innovation News
  
DEVELOPING FUTURE TALENT

Development of UMass Center at Springfield Begins

Governor Patrick has announced a $5.2M capital grant for the build-out, furniture, and equipment of the UMass Center at Springfield last month.  President Caret emceed the event which took place in the construction area at Tower Square.  Other speakers included UMass Board Chair Henry Thomas, Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno, UMass Building Authority Chair and UMass Trustee Phil Johnston; John Kennedy, Vice Chancellor for University Relations for Chancellor Subbaswamy; and MassMutual CEO Roger Crandall.  The focus of this initiative now moves to build-out of the space at Tower Square and hiring of staff.  The Center is scheduled to open for classes on September 2nd.

Read more at UMass News & Media Relations

  

Medical School Ranks 5th Primary Care by U.S. News & World Report

UMass Medical School was ranked fifth in primary care education among 128 medical schools and 25 schools of osteopathic medicine surveyed by weekly news magazine U.S. News & World Report in its 2015 edition of the "Best Graduate Schools" issue. UMMS has been listed near the top of the category since 1994 when the magazine began publishing the rankings. Of note, UMMS is the only school in the top 50 that accepts only in-state students to its medical degree program. U.S. News also ranked UMMS 49 among research schools and 50 in the biological sciences.

Read more at UMass Med Now
  

UMass Alum and Biogen CEO George Scangos Receives Leadership Award From MassBio

 

George Scangos, CEO of Biogen, the area's largest biotech firm, who has overseen one of the most successful drug launches in history, received the Henri A. Termeer Innovative Leadership Award by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council at MassBio's Annual Meeting this spring. Scangos holds a doctorate in microbiology from UMass Amherst.

 Read more at MassBio News 

 

UMass Lowell Workshop to Help Veterans get Life Science Jobs

UMass Lowell student-veterans, with the help of local companies such as Covidien, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Fresenius Medical Care and Haemonetics, learned how to translate their military experience into skills to help them build careers in the life sciences industry through Edge4Vets, a workshop series that kicked off in early Spring. UMass Lowell was the first university in Massachusetts to offer the program, which has a growing national reputation for success helping veterans land civilian jobs. More than 1,450 student-veterans attend UMass Lowell, ranked among the most military-friendly schools in the nation by G.I. Jobs magazine.

Read more at MHT BioFlash
  

Mayor Walsh Announces Life Science Internship Training Program at UMass Boston

 

Mayor Marty Walsh awarded $206K to UMass Boston for the creation of a Life Science Internship Training Program. Funded by the Mayor's Office of Jobs and Community Services (JCS), the program will connect 100 students from UMass Boston and other public higher education institutions with online training courses to prepare them for competitive life sciences internships at startups across the region.

Read more at UMass Boston News
  

UMass Lowell Introduces Degrees in Public Health

Responding to the growing demand for public health professionals, the College of Health Sciences introduced new bachelor's and master's public health degree programs. Prospective students may apply now to enroll this fall.
Read more at UMass Lowell News
  

UMass Lowell Students Study Entrepreneurship in India

Nine UMass Lowell students participated in an 11-day entrepreneurship course in Hubli, India held in partnership with B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology (BVB).

Read more at UMass Lowell News
  

Mass STEM Summit Comes to Worcester

Mark your calendars for the 11th annual Massachusetts STEM Summit, which this year moves to central Massachusetts. The STEM Summit is the leading annual state-wide event on science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the Commonwealth, co-sponsored by the state's Advisory Council on STEM, the Mass. Business Roundtable and the UMass Donahue Institute. The largest of Massachusetts' 26 Gateway Cities, Worcester is a fitting setting as the Summit begins to look ahead to the next decade, in which a thriving STEM education and workforce continuum will continue to help drive economic opportunity and prosperity.

  

UMass Boston Celebrates Community Partnerships

With more than 900 community partnerships documented by the University of Massachusetts Boston's Office of Community Partnerships in 2014, it's clear that faculty, staff, and students are making the university's civic-engagement mission a priority. ... At the 3rd annual Community-Engaged Partnership Symposium, students presented work in the areas of teaching, research, and service alongside faculty, staff, and community partners.

Read more at UMass Boston News 

 

UMass Dartmouth Students Shine at Governor's Cyber Aces State Championship

UMass Dartmouth students from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) participated Saturday, May 3, 2014 at Governor Deval Patrick's Cyber Aces State Championship, hosted at UMass Boston. UMass Dartmouth claimed four of the top ten places after the whole day event.

Read the Press Release 

 

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS FOR THE COMMONWEALTH

New Report Rates UMass Performance

The University of Massachusetts has released its first annual performance measurement report that uses a rating system to assess the University's progress in achieving 21 goals across six priority areas, ranging from the experiences of its students to the impact of its research to how well it manages its finances.
Read more at UMass News
  

MassBenchmarks Examines Impact of State's Aging Population

The UMass Donahue Institute, in cooperation with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, released the latest issue of MassBenchmarks, which examines the Commonwealth's aging population, immigration rates, and worker education levels, with a focus on how those factors will impact continued economic growth. The State of the State Economy article was co-authored by Dan Hodge, Director of Economic and Public Policy Research at UMDI, with Robert Nakosteen, Professor of Management at UMass Amherst presented a thorough assessment of the state's economic conditions and outlook, summarized by "cautious optimism". 
Read the full issue of MassBenchmarks
 

MassTLC State of Technology Report Released

UMass Donahue Institute researchers examined the progress and promise of the Massachusetts technology industry in the recently released 2014 State of Technology report. Issued by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC), using data collected and analyzed by UMDI's Economic and Public Policy Research (EPPR) group, the report looked at the state's technology sector in terms of jobs, wages, and industry growth.

Read the full report: 2014 State of Technology

 

Donahue Institute Research Helps Foster Collaboration Among Mass. Manufacturers

The Donahue Institute's Economic and Public Policy Research (EPPR) group has been working with UMass Dartmouth and the Advanced Manufacturing Regional Partnership Academy in a collaborative effort to accelerate the adoption of best practices, capacity building, and industry engagement across the state to develop and distribute a database of manufacturing companies in Massachusetts. A list of the primary contacts for each regional partnership can be found here.

 

To learn more about the University's Economic Development efforts, please call 617-287-4087