Jess Tate’s favorite part of his job as a research associate at the University of Utah Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute (SCI) is the variety of projects he is involved in.

“It’s really stimulating, and I have a lot of exposure to the cutting-edge science around me,” Tate said. “I get to be involved in all these fields of research and find solutions to problems.”

Because Tate is involved in so many projects, he made an excellent choice for one of the first three Innovation Ambassadors at the University of Utah. The Innovation Ambassadors connect their colleagues to the resources available at the Technology Licensing Office.

For Tate, serving as an Innovation Ambassador offers him the chance to encourage other SCI researchers to pursue potential commercialization opportunities related to their research. “The commercialization of ideas is really how our research or the things that we develop can have an impact,” he said.

Learn more about the Innovation Ambassadors

Just to get an idea of the scope of projects Tate and SCI work on, here are a few things he has had his hands on at the U:

• Building and improving on simulation models to be more accurate at estimation.
• Using statistical shape modeling to describe the shape of things like hearts or bones.
• Supporting and writing software to help researchers discover new phenomena in science.
• Creating computer models of the brain and the heart.

One of Tate’s main goals across all these projects is to push discovery and human knowledge forward. “All the software we write is centered on how we can make it easier for researchers or clinicians to discover,” he said. “It's using techniques that haven't been used in this field before to discover new principles and new ideas governing the proteins that make life work. Then, of course, the overall hope is that these ideas would result in some benefit to society.”

Commercializing some of these software projects is a bit more complicated than getting a tangible product licensed. Software is not always patentable, so Tate and the Technology Licensing Office are exploring new ideas to ensure these projects can be just as impactful.

“We are still pretty early in the process, but we hope to be able to come up with some strategies that would really inspire our researchers and students to come to the university and think of it as a place where they can make their ideas impactful,” Tate said.

Tate also hopes his position as an Innovation Ambassador will help grow a network of industry connections interested in the work done at SCI.

“I hope to help them see the value of our research and our work in their industry, and also in return use their expertise and their strengths to help our research progress,” Tate said. “There’s a lot that we can learn from each other across these domains and spaces that we work in.”

TLO Director of Commercialization Jonathan Tyler spearheaded the development of the Innovation Ambassador program with the hope that it would benefit researchers in more ways than one. “This initiative is designed to embed innovation resources within departments, offering trusted advisors who can provide direct support and guidance,” Tyler said. “Additionally, the program creates a valuable feedback loop with our office, helping us refine and enhance our offerings.”