School:Stony Brook University (SUNY)

Overview of the Institution

Stony Brook University (SUNY) is a public University with a four-year accredited undergraduate programs ranging from Business to Engineering to Medicine. The University was established in 1957 as a state University and contains over 200 buildings in roughly 1450 acres of land, enrolling about 24, 500 students undergraduate and graduate. It has received various accolades such as the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the Fields Medal and more as well as expanding various opportunities such as housing and developing four business incubators. Stony Brook is on it's way to becoming one of the leading institutions in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship.

Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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Stony Brook University has various fast track programs such as the 5 year, engineering and MBA program for all the engineering students to help prepare them for various fields. Stony Brook is dedicated to advancement and progress and has spent over $225.3 million in Research and Development. This research has created an entrepreneurial culture allowing for students to pursue programs that they normally didn’t have access to before. It has even led to the creation of an innovation space in partnership with the College of Business and Engineering allowing for students to collaborate and prototype products of their choosing. The Innovation Lab is also holding multiple workshops in collaboration with Matlab to learn how to utilize algorithms in the program as well as use them with Lego Mindstorms as well as holding introductory workshops to learn how to use the 3D Printer. Moreover, Stony Brook also encourages the sharing of research and senior design projects through URECA that focus on students presenting the work and research they have completed within the last year and give opportunities to students to network with other individuals.

Faculty  Innovation and Entrepreneurship

As mentioned before, there have been various incubators set up at Stony Brook, especially it's accompanying campus, in the Research and Development Park. Also, quite recently, students and faculty have partnered up as part of the Innovation Center to launch startups and some have successfully patented their technology. The Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology also has been leading in working with MBA students to launch startups at the end of their semester. There are also many active faculty working on intriguing research projects on campus in the Center for Molecular Sciences, at the on campus accelerator as well as in nearby partnerships with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).

Regional and Local Developmental Efforts

Currently, Stony Brook is partnered up with the Long Island Incubator as well as (BNL) and has had students participate in both areas as well. There has been increasing interest in creating a startup space and panelists from Long Island startups have come in to discuss how they started and pursued their ideas. These efforts are still relatively small as the last attendance was limited to roughly 35 students, compared to the campus population which is about 25000 students (undergraduate and graduate). There are a lot of resources on campus available to students though there are not as many funding opportunities as desired. These would be probably be arranged through the local and regional companies and organizations; it will surely stimulate the development of the startup culture at Stony Brook University.

University-Industry Collaboration

There has been limited University-Industry Collaboration and most of it has come through students participating in programs externally outside of the academic programs. Currently, the student societies hold mixers and informational sessions with companies located on Long Island, such as BAE Systems, Raytheon Systems, Cognizant and more. Also, many student teams have received sponsorship from local businesses and companies to support their preparation for the regional, national and international competitions. Students have also interned with numerous organizations across the nation, such as NASA, GE, Qualcomm, Intel and others. However, on the academic level, there has been very limited collaborations with Industry. 

University Technology Transfer Capabilities

Currently, the University has an Office of Technology Licensing and Industry Relations on campus that deals with helping students and faculty obtain patents for their work as well as working with the school in developing better proprietary agreements to attract more inventors. The Office holds various competitions such as the DARE challenge as well as work with the Centers on campus to provide individuals with the opportunities they need to succeed in launching their company.

Stony Brook University Resources Overview'

Related Links

Stony Brook University Official Website

Stony Brook Innovation Lab

Stony Brook University Student Priorities

University Innovation Fellow: Saba Khalid