This course is offered in collaboration with the National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos” and will be taught by a Demokritos researcher/scientist. Classes will be held at the facilities of Demokritos.

Do you have a great idea for new technology and want to learn the correct steps to transform it into an innovative product for the market? Are you a technologist who wants to know how to turn your invention into a successful product? Do you want to learn how best to protect a new invention so it retains its value all the way to market? Or maybe you simply want to learn how to invent things? Then, this course is for you!
This practical course has been developed from extensive hands-on experience in advising and mentoring inventors and companies on how best to commercialize their ideas. As a senior “technology exploitation” advisor for the European Commission, the instructor has met and advised hundreds of scientists, technologists, and businessmen on how to maximize the potential of their innovations. The most important lesson to learn is that the route to successful commercialization is much like the scientific method: prove the concept, plan ahead, observe results, correct, and repeat until ready for the market. This approach works for all technologies with potential value, whether to an industry or directly to a consumer.

Learning Objectives
The course is loosely based on the book Technology Transfer in Practice: from Invention to Innovation (2014) and The Researcher Entrepreneur: best practices for successful technological entrepreneurship (2016), both authored by George Vekinis, the instructor. The course integrates both theoretical background and practical guidance on how to commercialize a valuable idea. It is aimed at anyone who wants to:
– Develop the “lateral thinking” necessary to cultivate a technological idea and create something innovative from it.
– Learn how to transform a well-conceived technological idea into an invention.
– Understand the 10 stages and the 3 Milestones that lead from the idea to a commercial product.
– Learn what the most powerful techniques for protecting an invention, both formally and informally, are.
– Learn how to evaluate an idea and understand the many factors that affect its value, along with the strategies to enhance the value of a new invention.
– Learn how to secure funding for the development and commercialization of an invention.
– …and everything else required for successful commercialization of a technology.

The course will develop the skills needed to become a successful technological entrepreneur, including, but not limited to:
– Evaluating a technology vis-a-vis its acceptance and value within the industry or the market.
– Identifying and applying Intellectual Property Rights to a technology.
– Effectively protecting a technology to ensure maximum commercialization value.
– Carrying out technological and commercial SWOT (strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats) studies.
– Conducting technological, market, legal, partnership, etc., risk analyses and devising mitigation strategies.
– Determining the optimal path for the commercialization of specific types of technologies.
– Identifying methods for obtaining funding for R&D and commercialization.
– Assessing the feasibility and viability of innovations.
– Analyzing the legal aspects of entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property.
– Developing business plans and exploitation strategies.
– Learning the dos and don’ts of entrepreneurship through the examination of numerous real case studies.
– Understanding when a technology is ready for commercialization.