Nanook Innovation Corporation provides opportunities for inventors

November 21, 2013

Cornerstone

The Board of Regents approved a resolution for the creation of a UAF Research Corporation in September 2012 to assist with the commercialization of intellectual property and the creation of start-up companies. In the year following this approval, the Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization formed the Nanook Innovation Corporation, a non-profit supporting organization geared toward commercializing intellectual property from university research. NIC also formed and took a majority shareholder interest in Nanook Tech Ventures, a for-profit company designed to assist in start-up companies commercializing university-generated intellectual property.

Within 60 days of NTV’s formation, the first university IP-based start-up, V-ADAPT, Inc. (Volcanic Ash Detection, Avoidance and Preparedness for Transportation), was formed by three UAF faculty to commercialize volcanic ash detection and monitoring software. V-ADAPT will offer online services to the airline industry and commercial shippers who need to detect and track volcanic activity.

UAF recently assigned three new UAF technologies to NIC to be licensed to private companies in the coming months.With this structure, UAF is poised to create new start-up companies and provide more opportunities for researchers to commercialize their inventions. All UAF faculty, staff and student inventors are encouraged to engage with OIPC and support both NIC and NTV to further develop and commercialize their technologies. For more information, please contact the Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization at 907-474-2605.