(280a) Academia, Small Business Partnership Leading to New Product Development Based on Intellectual Property

Collaborative research and development in the new mantra to accelerate product development process. Collaborations among people from different backgrounds synergizes the development process as streghts of either party exist in different domains.

This paper discusses an unique partnership between Center for Microfibrous Materials at Auburn University and associated private business partner Intramicron Inc. Two different accelerated research projects 1. development of next generation of gas masks and 2. New filtration materials for collective protection shall be discussed as case studies.

The paper focuses on combination of science and engineering as strength of academia and technology transfer, market exploration, financial aspects & business models as strength of Intramicron. The case studies would discuss how these strengths were synergized, major milestones while executing these projects and results obtained therein.