Dr. Robert Langer, the Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, will be the featured speaker at the MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc., satellite broadcast on Thursday, May 21 from 7-9pm in Kresge Auditorium. His talk is titled "Creating and Implementing Breakthrough Technology."
Opening remarks will be made by Lita Nelsen, director of the Technology Licensing Office.
Discoveries in the area of biomedical materials have formed the basis for new medical treatments that prolong life and relieve suffering. Many companies utilize biomaterials in such areas as drug delivery systems and tissue engineering.
Professor Langer will use three case studies to illustrate the process and excitement of discovery, the initial resistance of the scientific community to these discoveries, the way patents were received, how technology was transferred to companies, and the way it was moved from the laboratory through FDA approval.
Dr. Langer has written hundreds of articles and holds 320 patents. He has received many major awards, including the Gairdner Foundation International Award (49 of the recipients of the this Award subsequently received a Nobel Prize). Most recently, he won the 1998 Lemelson-MIT Prize, the world's most significant prize for American invention and innovation.
The Technology Licensing Office receives more than 125 new US patents per year, more than any other university. It grants up to 80 licenses per year, and catalyzes the start-up of more than a dozen companies per year based on MIT inventions.
This is the fourth satellite broadcast by the Enterprise Forum, which will reach forum chapters, MIT alumni/ae clubs and Sloan School clubs across North America.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 20, 1998.
