The NAI Annual Meeting is the premier arena where academic innovation and entrepreneurship is recognized, honored and cultivated. We aim to honor and empower the world’s brightest innovators and professionals by creating powerful connections between them, generating a momentum that will enhance and transform our innovation ecosystem. Learn More
The Eighth Annual Meeting of the NAI will be held April 10-11, 2019 in Houston, TX.
Abstract Submissions are invited for presentation on the following topics:
Inclusive Innovation and Removing Barriers for the Next Generation
Solving the world’s biggest challenges requires inventors with diverse skills, experiences and perspectives. Using big data, recent research has identified systemic barriers that are resulting in “Lost Einsteins” and a loss to society of the potential inventions they would create. The data suggest that if women, minorities and low-income individuals were to invent at the same rates as high-income white males, the rate of invention in the U.S. would quadruple, benefiting all of us. What is driving this gap and what are the opportunities to close it for future generations?
Best Practices in Connecting Industry and Academia
A significant gap exists between the cultures of industry and academia, which hinders successful collaboration to develop meaningful impact. What is the cause of this divide between these two cultures and what mechanisms can be utilized to encourage engagement on common grounds?
Collaborative Applied Research Among Industry, Academia, and Government
What roles are played by each of these groups in the process of applied research? What are some difficulties facing collaborative innovation on a national scale? What can be done to increase the practice of collaboration among applied research?
Incentivizing and Recognizing Collaboration to Spur Economic Development
Following the last recession, public and private entities have emphasized the importance of facilitating and rewarding synergistic partnerships across sectors which aid in research, workforce development, start-up ventures, and innovation. What ways can these collaborations be promoted among universities and industries?
Stewarding Student Professional Development
Students are constantly searching for new partnership opportunities to kick start their careers in innovation through mentors, internships, and research. What advice would you give to a student trying to select the best partner? What are some creative ways to connect students and industry?
Impact of New Patent Laws and Policies on University Strategies
Given recent Supreme Court rulings and the role of the Patent Trial & Appeals Board, how should universities change policy and process to ensure that patent rights are meaningful? Additionally, what effects do these changes have on realistic expectations at the USPTO and through the life of a patent?
Open Innovation Centers: Success in Living Labs and Public/Private/People Innovation Spaces
What would you say is the true definition of a “living lab” in the context of innovation and public-private-people partnership spaces? How can these spaces be made effective, sustainable and successful while engaging the surrounding community?
Intertwined Answers: Connecting Disciplines to Explore Innovative Solutions
These interdisciplinary connections can offer fresh perspectives and unique viewpoints which generate creative solutions to ongoing global issues. What are some benefits of interdisciplinary innovation? What are some ways to promote interconnectedness among disciplines?
Please pass this invitation along to experts in these fields to submit their abstract to present at the NAI 2019 Annual Meeting.
Gilda Barabino, President of AIMBE and Dean of Engineering, The City College of New York, delivered a Keynote Address titled Reframing Innovation at the 2018 NAI Annual Meeting.
The National Academy of Inventors is a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 4,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 250 institutions. It was founded in 2010 at the University of South Florida to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.
