Mission

NCL Innovations was founded on 19 February 2007 as a new resource center of the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune to champion the cause of technology innovations within the organization. The mission of NCL Innovations is to find means and ways to help the birth of new technology ideas and assist and support their translation into products and successful exploitation.

The immediate goal of NCL Innovations is to build and rejuvenate for NCL various component parts of a world-class ecosystem supporting the development and enrichment of commercially and socially useful knowledge (technology), protection and capture of value, exploitation of know-how, and the setting up of new commercial and social enterprises based on NCL know-how. Thus, NCL Innovations will bring a fresh & renewed focus to and champion the cause of technology development & acceleration, technology commercialization (in concert with Business Development Division) and new venture development (Graphic).

Activities

NCL Innovations plans to run programs and activities in the following areas in the coming years:

• Technology acceleration, building innovation networks and creating a conducive culture (activities promoting technology innovation/ innovators from idea creation to proof-of-concept stage)
• Intellectual property (activities and institutional systems to effectively and efficiently file for and manage intellectual property)
• Technology commercialization (activities and institutional initiatives aimed at marketing, negotiating and facilitating the commercialization of intellectual property and technology)
• Public-private partnership (build longer-term research and technology development partnerships with private entities that leverage NCL expertise and resources for creating intellectual property)
• New venture development (activities, institutional policies and mechanisms to facilitate the creation of more technology enterprises using NCL know- how, expertise or involvement of NCL staff, students and alumni)
• Developing the NCL Innovation Park as a home for technology innovation activities in partnership with private entities.

Promoting innovation

NCL Innovations has undertaken the following initiatives to strengthen the innovation culture and networks within NCL:

• Innovation and Technology Enterprise Lecture Series: The Innovation and Technology Enterprise Lecture Series is a prestigious lecture series that aims to present exemplary cases of research-based innovation translated into business ventures - the associated ideas, the people and the experiences - in order to inspire, energize and inform Indian scientists, technologists and business people. Speakers so far include Prof Sir Friend (Cambridge U; Cambridge Display Technology; Plastic Logic), Prof Dobson (Oxford U; Oxonica), Prof George (Imperial College; Imperial Innovations) and Dr Keki Gharda (Gharda Chemicals).
• NCL Technology and Entrepreneurship Club: NCL Technology and Entrepreneurship club (NCL-TEC) is a club driven by research scholars and associates at NCL that aims to provide a common platform/forum for people with a shared interest in technology and translating it into products and services useful to people. The Club plans to focus on various aspects of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. The club shall plan and organize lectures, workshops and other events for the mutual benefit of the club members.
• Brainstorming workshops aimed at idea generation and networking amongst technologists are planned in selected impact areas such as health, energy, environment, product security and socially relevant themes in the near future.
• Coordination for students wishing to participate in the Technology-Led Entrepreneurship programs run by CSIR-HRDG and IISc-Bangalore. Support and mentoring for students interested in participating in business plan and technology competitions.

Intellectual property group

The Intellectual Property Group at NCL is a service group that aims to help scientists and students strategize, protect, secure, valorize and extract value from intellectual property emerging out of their work while also championing the cause of inventions, inventors and the spirit of invention within NCL. Click here for more details.

Technology commercialization

NCL Innovations has undertaken the following initiatives to strengthen technology commercialization capabilities and increase productivity/ impact:

• NCL Innovations Seminar Series: The NCL Innovations Seminar Series shall focus on models, institutional mechanisms, best practices, experiences and role models relating to technology acceleration, technology commercialization and new venture development. Speakers so far include Prof Dobson (Oxford University’s Begbroke Science Park), Prof Amit Ray (JNU, ICRIER) and Dr Marikar (Nanobiz LLC).
• Branding and greater visibility to NCL intellectual property and technology. Product stickers accompanying every NCL technology.
• Technology and IP marketing site (www.nclinnovations.org)
• Participation in technology commercialization discussions and negotiations. Exploring new ways and partners to market technology and IP.

Public-private partnerships

NCL Innovations is currently exploring potential public-private partnerships (PPP) in technology innovations wherein NCL can partner businesses in medium to long-term programs aimed at research and technology innovation in focused areas. NCL aims to contribute specific expertise, know-how and facilities to such PPPs while business partners are expected to contribute market knowledge and focus, operational efficiencies and financial resources. In certain programs of national importance, NCL may be able to vest IP in such PPPs while also attracting grant-in-aid funding support.

New venture development

NCL Innovations aims to identify opportunities for new venture creation and to facilitate the creation of technology start-ups. In this direction, NCL Innovations has helped create Venture Center – a technology business incubator supported by DST-NSTEDB located within NCL Innovation Park. The Venture Center is a technology business incubator specializing in technology enterprises offering products and services exploiting scientific expertise in the areas of materials, chemicals and biological sciences & engineering.

The Venture Center is the trademark of Entrepreneurship Development Center, a not-for-profit company hosted by the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. The Venture Center will initially occupy 10,000 sq ft of built up area within the NCL Innovation Park and will consist of lab, office and hot-desking space for start-up companies, shared laboratories, analytical facilities, an information and learning center, and other supporting resources and services. The Venture Center will be offering advisory services to technologists/ inventors and entrepreneurs while also helping build and sustain networks supporting technology entrepreneurs.

NCL Innovation Park

The NCL Innovation Park is a 43,000 sq m (10.6 acre) facility being developed by the National Chemical Laboratory to support the birth, growth and expansion plans of research and knowledge-based business entities (both start-up companies and subsidiaries of established companies) through critical stages of their growth by providing ready-to-occupy space (with varying degrees of servicing) with easy access to the knowledge centers (like NCL), knowledge workers, business networks and other resources.

The NCL Innovation Park is being planned as an environment that will marry corporate efficiency, agility and entrepreneurial vigor with the contemporary knowledge skills, intellectual depth and spirit of invention characteristic of research organizations such as NCL.

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