Transcript: Krisztina Holly, USC Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization

This transcript is from a PodTech.net podcast at:
http://www.podtech.net/home/technology/1658/krisztina-holly-usc-stevens-institute-for-technology-commercialization

Guest: Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Host: Phil Leigh - PodTech

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Okay, its Phil Leigh returning with another additional Inside Digital Media and today's guest, we're delighted to have is the Executive Director of the USC's Stevens Institute, Krisztina Holly. Can you hear me okay Krisztina?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Yeah.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Okay, you're also Vice Provost there at USC as well, is that right?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
That's right.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
So listen, the Stevens Institute as I understand it is a really kind of a sort of Technology Transfer Organization to ensure that the intellectual property developed at the USC finds it's way into industry and business and is used profitably; is that the basic points in this description or how would you describe it?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Well, I would say USC Stevens is more than that. We really were focussed on the whole innovation process and how do we stimulate and advance innovation that's happening at USC and in addition to that, how do we stimulate innovators at USC to get excited about making its societal impact with their ideas.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Okay, well of course and as I mentioned to you before we started the interview here, is one of the things that attracted me to giving you a call, was the fact that you were quoted in a Wall Street Journal article as being involved in this kind of activity. So, before we head into full discussion of what USC Steven Institute is all about, can you just give us a short bio on yourself?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Sure, well, I received my Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Mechanical Engineering at MIT and when I was a graduate student, I started my first company Stylus Innovation and I really ended up becoming a serial entrepreneur, was involved in other start-ups and really loved that whole process and after I had been at (Inaudible) which had acquired the last start-up, I had a great opportunity to become the founding executive director of something called the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation and that was a great experience for me to help, give grants to faculty and the students and advanced technological innovation to the market place and knighted that for almost four years and that was quite successful and that's really when USC came knocking on my door and recruited me away and that's how I came to be at USC.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
So, you have been up in England until just recently, is that right?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Yeah, I grew up in LA, didn't necessarily think I would return, but I spent over 20 years in Boston. I really loved it there as well, but now I'm really excited to be back in LA, its very vibrant and -- vibrant city with lots of potential.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
I understand you've already started surfing again.

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Oh, yes, the cat's out of the bag.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
So, is that as much fun as they say.

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
It's a lot of fun. It's a great learning experience let me put it that way. You learn everytime you go out there.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
At MIT, you say you got a degree and undergraduate in Mechanical Engineer then did you say Masters or Ph.D.in it?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
That's right, Masters.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Masters in Mechanical Engineering and you had a startup, there that you found at Stylus, what was that?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Stylus Innovation, we started as a -- it was actually a project and of course where we wanted to develop a product for the elderly to help them stay independent longer, that was a project and it turned into a online -- it was like an online shopping system, but this was pre-Web. So, it was a Barcode one that communicated with the server at the super market or any store, where you'd want to do that, you just scan barcodes out of a catalogue and eventually after we licensed that technology, it turned into a software company. It was a computer towards any development tool company.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Okay, so you've been a serial entrepreneur, then for four years you were helping them and I guess, I don't know what the proper time is technology transfer there at MIT, can you tell us a little bit about the -- you used other terms, I can't quite recall, but can you tell us a little bit about some of the notable successes you might have had at MIT?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Yes, we actually just had a -- one of our companies who has recently acquired, (Inaudible). That was a 3D imaging technology -- it took what some people might consider a long path to success, but actually in terms of university start-ups, this was very fast. Just in a few short years, we ended up getting acquired by 3M I believe, and it was a 3D imaging for dental work.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
So, this would be Graphic Imaging, as opposed to building 3-D Models or what?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Yeah, basically so many people I'm sure have had the horrible experience of having to get impression for, -- to get a crown for example and this would eliminate that need because it just visually can turn an image of its tooth into a 3-dimensional representation on a computer could actually do you know, just wave the wand of the tooth and then that turns it into a crown, right there and -- so that was a very interesting path to get there because it perfectly illustrates how you might have one idea in mind for your technology when in fact that's probably not the best path to market and that's why its so important to get that early market input into the innovation process.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Well, is this company that 3M acquires is it going to be used primarily for dental applicants then?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
That's my understanding, that's the main focus right now.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
But, when they got started, they had something else in mind?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Yeah, they thought maybe it'll be good for home line security. This is shortly after 9/11 and then they were looking at industrial inspection, endoscopy application, there is probably about 20 applications that they were looking at, but it really started out as just a technology for doing fluid flow analysis in the lab. It's not something that would have a large application, but now because they've really gone through the whole process of looking at the different markets and the different applications, that this is really going to be helping people, real world people that they don't need to go through the inconvenience of going for the impressions and waiting for the crowns and all that.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Yeah, that sounds interesting. So we're now at USC Stevens Institute, what is that the USC Stevens Institute helps to accomplish and what drew you to this opportunity?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Well, I think that what drew me to this opportunity was this really unprecedented opportunity to redefine how innovation happens and innovation transfer happens out of universities. It's a huge opportunity in the Provost and the President is behind it. We're growing to about 25 to 30 staff in the next year and its an integrated approach to doing this. Not only are we taking the intellectual property at the university helping protect it and helping license it and we do that and most large research universities would have a Tech Transfer office.

We're also doing educational program for students, for faculty, we're going to be doing mentoring programs and building community events and really leveraging a lot of other great things that have already been happening at USC, but making it interdisciplinary, having students for example, in the music school, work with students in Engineering and Business and Law, to be able to bring together their expertise and work on projects and advance these ideas out into society and learn how that process goes. Even if they don't do a startup now, then once they get out into the real world they know how that process works.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
I can see how that would be valuable, now as I recall there was in that article, there was a review that the USC Stevens Institute was partly funded by a Venture Capitalist up in Silicon Valley and I think that that article also included one of the companies that came out of the institute, is that right or do you recall?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
USC Stevens is actually -- was originally funded with a naming gift from Mark and Mary Stevens. Mark Stevens is a very well known Venture Capitalist at Sequoia Capital and initially it was going to be just in the School of Engineering and on the Provost, Max Nikias had realized that well this is really an opportunity to do a university-wide initiative, not just in school of engineering because USC is really unique. We have an unbelievable diversity and that's of research and expertise in music and in cinematic arts and in law and medicine and dentistry and so why only focus on, kind of -- the obvious one's engineering, but really we have this richness here, so that's when there was additional support that had been added. So, it's partially funded through a $22 million gift and also support from the Provost and existing budget from the office of Technology Licensing, which now reports to me.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Okay, so are there any companies that you can point to that have sort of incubated at the Stevens Institute or USC Stevens Institute that have come out into the open?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Well, we're actually very early stage. So I came on board this year and we're just staffing up and we're just doing our strategic planning and we have great plans and that we're going to be doing in the spring, but on the other hand if you think about the history of USC, we have a very entrepreneurial alumni, for example, Andrew Viterbi who founded Qualcomm, then we have actually Chris DeWolfe, wrote the business plan for MySpace at USC, at the Marshall School of Business and Kinkos and California Pizza Kitchen even, so these are very, very entrepreneurial alumni and entrepreneurial faculty; we have had startups at the USC, but I wouldn't say that we're taking credit for that, instead we're going to be celebrating our successes.

So, that's really the goal, it's to celebrate success, leverage the great resources and the energy, the entrepreneurial energy and expertise that we have here to make it even better.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Given my perspective here at Inside Digital Media, I may have it wrong and maybe I've got it right, but I cannot think of USC as being a great Film Production School or at least the school has a lot to do with media. So, I'm wondering if that background or if that perception is right and if it's true, how can we expect some things from the USC Stevens Institute dealing with new Digital Media?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Definitely, well we have many different centers and schools. So, in addition to the premier Cinematic Arts School, we've an interactive media division that focuses on gaming, we also have Institute for Creative Technologies and we have Integrated Media Systems Centre and really excitement across the whole university and also the Annenberg School of Communication and so definitely there is a lot of potential here and a lot of successes so far. We have a for example, there is a -- at USC Video Game Design and Management Minor, that's interdisciplinary that students can take across the university, so there's really a lot, a lot going on here.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Well now as it is expected that most of the students that develop an interest in entrepreneurship are going to somehow be able to take advantage of the USC Stevens Institute resources or is this something that they have to compete for or you go out and select the students or how's it going to work?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Well, exactly how's it going to work, we're going to be unveiling in the spring, but definitely we are a resource for the whole university and I would say though that there is probably going to be more support for certain ideas and certain innovators, that we feel have a lot of potential and we're going to be bringing in a whole business community, building a community of volunteers and experts from the outside to help work with faculty and students.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
As you say you've done similar work at MIT, do you see this as a general trend for colleges and universities across the country and if so what prompts it?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
I'm sorry can you repeat it again?

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Well you did similar work at MIT?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Yeah.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
Okay and if the USC Stevens Institute is representative of a trend that maybe got started at MIT, are we seeing this trend impacting other universities and what might be prompting all this?

Krisztina Holly - Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization
Right, definitely. There is a lot of interest across the country and I would say that the interest actually started a while ago among some universities -- just from the Tech Transfer stand point. There was a legislation passed called the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980 and that enabled universities -- gave universities the right to own the intellectual property coming out of federally sponsored research and most of the research that happens at universities, usually, on the order of 80 to 95% is from federal sponsors and so that and also gave the right to universities to exclusively license technology, which really when a startup happens, spins out of the university, they really, the Venture Capitalists wanted to see an exclusive license.

So, that what kick started the initial interest in setting up Tech Transfer offices and our Tech Transfer office has actually been here since 1971. So, it's been, its actually quite -- one of the oldest ones so we predated that, but beyond that it's not enough to just look at the licensing process, but how you advance the innovations to the point where somebody might be interested in investing in it and it's pretty difficult to do because of a lot of factors.

One is money, generally funding at a university, doesn't really cover that translational piece, the piece that will get it ready; there's also cultural differences, faculty are motivated by different factors and the business community, which is completely valid and for good reason, they are focussing on publishing and really the academic credibility. So, I think the most important thing is to be figuring out how do you bridge that gap and not change necessarily the way to what motivates them, but more just to realize it. There is an advantage and faculty do want to see in students, do want to see societal impact from their work.

So, there's been a little bit of a shift over the years in trying to help that, but I'd say that its really in the last few years that things have just taken off the interest and putting resources into, whether its just Tech Transfer or commercialization and we're really looking at it broader than that innovation across the board and interdisciplinary innovation and not just focussing on the innovations themselves, but the innovators and how do you teach students or what it means to innovate and how do you study the process, so that you can improve on that process.

Phil Leigh - PodTech
That sounds promising and I want to thank you for taking the time to come on Inside Digital Media. So, for Krisztina Holly and USC Stevens Institute and really Inside Digital Media, that is a wrap.