 Winter 2006 |
| Cover Story | |
| Plastic Panache – In Brief | |
In the 1967 movie “The Graduate,” young Ben Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman) receives “just one word” of career advice from his father’s friend. “Plastics,” says Mr. McGuire, wagging a finger at Braddock. “There’s a great future in it.” Yet he had no clue just how great a future. “We are in the age of plastics – and not just as commodity materials,” says Jean-Luc Brédas, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and Chair in Molecular Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “With a new generation of plastics that are electrically and optically active, there’s a whole new set of possibilities for polymers.” |
VIBRANT GROUP
“In science and technology, the answers to every question should lead to better questions. COPE has brought people with answers to different parts of the problem and generated better questions. COPE is a vibrant group of researchers – not just in the cutting-edge science that they’re doing, but also in terms of their commitment to diversity and community service.” – Gary Schuster, Dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Sciences
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A shared vision with the Georgia Tech administration was a major attraction for Jean-Luc Brédas, Bernard Kippelen, Seth Marder and Joseph Perry, who left the University of Arizona in 2003 and moved their research groups to Atlanta. The mission the researchers had in mind for a new center, COPE, integrated seamlessly with Georgia Tech’s master plan, Marder explains. “Also, the administration here listens to its faculty,” he adds. “Instead of an adversarial relationship, there’s a team spirit, which is very empowering. That had a huge impact on our decision to come here – and three years later, we still feel the same way.” A collaborative culture was also a factor, COPE researchers agree. “When it comes to facilities, equipment and other resources, there’s an open-arms approach here,” observes Simon Jones, a research scientist in Marder’s research group. “I've never experienced a culture where interdisciplinary collaboration is not only encouraged but expected to the extent that it is at Georgia Tech and COPE.”
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VENTURELAB CONNECTION
COPE research has already sparked two companies, LumoFlex and Focal Point Microsystems, which are now members of VentureLab, Georgia Tech’s program for accelerating technology commercialization. “Once you’ve made a discovery and demonstrated proof of principle for a new technology or product, one might think that commercialization would go smoothly,” observes Bernard Kippelen, LumoFlex’s co-founder. “But it’s a long, hard road. To have a successful company, you need to find investors. And to engage investors, you need a solid business plan. This is where VentureLab connects the dots.” Kippelen praised Jonathan Goldman, a VentureLab catalyst, for assisting LumoFlex with its business plan, pointing the company to potential investors and even assisting with daily management of the company. |
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Last updated: April 29, 2006