Friday, January 20, 2017

Tribute To Caltech's Larry Gilbert, Founder of Tech Transfer Office

Larry Gilbert, the founder of the technology transfer program at Caltech, passed away in November in Florida, Caltech said this week, with a tribute to Gilbert's efforts at the school. Gilbert was the "founding father of technology transfer" at Caltech, according to the school, forming the Office of Technology Transfer in 1995. The office helps license technology and patents from the school to startups and other companies, as well as helps take ideas created by professors and researchers to market. Since then, Caltech says that the office has helped launch over 240 startups, with 25 percent of those seeing successful exits; Caltech says that the office has helped to generate $395 million in gross revenue for the school. Gilbert had been a familiar face in Southern California's startup and technology world. Caltech said that before Gilbert create Caltech's Office of Technology Transfer, it saw an average of 36 invention disclosures from its scientists and engineers each year; it saw 229 invention disclosures and 196 patents issued last year, and now has 1,922 total active patents. Photo of Gilbert, with cap, via Caltech.

---