Izzy Branam, Aishwarya Chaudhari and Crystal Korff are all passionate about bringing IU research to market and protecting intellectual property. Their work at the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office will impact lives across the world.
The ICO internship program exposes interns to the day-to-day workings of a university technology transfer office. It provides education and hands-on experience that includes formal training in licensing in innovation and commercialization, marketing, intellectual property protection and contracts.
Meet the ICO interns:
What is your major and when are you graduating?
Branam: My major is Organizational and Business Psychology at the IU College of Arts and Sciences, and I will be graduating in 2026.
Chaudhari: I just graduated earlier in May with a Masters in Engineering at the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology.
Korff: I am a Ph.D. candidate for Medical and Molecular Genetics at the IU School of Medicine.
What are your responsibilities at the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office?
Branam: I act as a consultant for early-stage research inventions by conducting customer research to understand their needs, researching ways to approach FDA approval, as well as strategizing how to turn IP to marketable solutions.
Chaudhari:
My responsibilities include writing one pagers, conducting product searches and reviewing licensing agreements with commercialization managers.
Korff:
I work closely with the commercialization managers to write marketing summaries of inventions, and I also conduct prior art research.
What has been a memorable success during your tenure at IU ICO?
Branam: I recently participated in the IU Life Sciences to Healthcare Solutions Pitch Competition, and it was an eye-opening experience for me. I loved being able to present the research and network with other inventors.
Chaudhari: A memorable success during my time at ICO would be gaining a wealth of knowledge about IP and learning the inner workings of the tech transfer industry. I have really enjoyed learning from the commercialization managers, who have extensive industry experience, and how to translate research into a one pager that sums up an invention.
Also, within the last few months I’ve learned more about licensing agreements, and I’ve enjoyed sitting in negotiations and learning the nitty gritty details behind them.
Korff:
Moving academia research to the industry has definitely been one of my successes while working at ICO. I love learning how we can translate IP to solutions to help patients. In addition, I have loved learning more about the tech transfer process, particularly with licensing agreements.
What are you most passionate about learning personally or professionally and why?
Branam: I’ve been working in the startup realm for a while, so I love learning more about tech startups and growing them.
Chaudhari: I love learning more about IP protection. However, in recent months I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the legal side in tech transfer, and it’s piqued my interest in learning more about copyrights and trademarks.
Korff: I am a research-oriented person, so I love learning how we take the knowledge learned from research labs to help treat patients.
What are your career goals? How has your internship benefited you?
Branam: I will continue to not only launch startups of my own but help others with theirs in the Indiana startup ecosystem. I know firsthand the process behind creating a startup, but this internship has helped me with conducting research and customer interviews to gain a better understanding of the market.
Chaudhari:
This internship has benefited me as I’ve been able to experience multiple facets within the tech transfer industry. I have taken invention summaries and turned them into one pagers for industry partnering and collaboration, and I’ve learned about license agreements while interacting with attorneys in law firms. Overall, I want to continue to gain a broader experience in all aspects of tech transfer to help me in the industry.
Korff:
Since starting at ICO, I’ve really loved witnessing the process of turning academic research into solutions that can help patients.
With this experience, I’ve gained a better understanding of business, marketing and management of IP, and this internship has been beneficial for my upcoming position where I’ll test patient samples for clinical trials.
Bri Heron, technology marketing manager at Indiana University’s Innovation and Commercialization Office, contributed this story.
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