Technology transfer (TT), principally through the creation of startups, is instituted by federal act as one of the main missions of University Professors in Switzerland. In recent years, a great number of professors, researchers and PhD students are involved in TT aspects and results are visible and quite promising. In the first part of the seminar, I will explain the structures that the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL) has put in place to facilitate technology transfer from the academic lab to the real world. I will discuss the evolution of the program in the last 20 years and some of the reasons of its recent success. In the second part of the seminar, I will focus on medical technology and I will give my own examples of medical technology startups I have created during my 20-old involvement in the TT game. I will discuss some of the common pitfalls and I will propose different approaches to the development and transfer of viable medical technology ventures from the academic lab to the real world.
Nikos Stergiopulos received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 1985 and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Iowa State University, USA, in 1990. Nikos Stergiopulos holds also a degree in Management of Technology from IMD. He is currently Full Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Hemodynamics and Cardiovascular Technology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. His main research interests are Hemodynamics, Cardiovascular Mechanics and Medical Implant Technology. He has authored more than 180 peer review papers and holds more than 15 patents in medical technology. In 1998 he co-founded EndoArt SA, a medical device startup company, world leader in telemetrically powered and controlled medical implants for the treatment of congenital heart disease and morbid obesity. He is currently the founder and managing director of Antlia SA, developer of implantable drug delivery pumps and Rheon Medical SA, developer of an adjustable drainage device for the surgical treatment of glaucoma.
