Meet Madison Bourbon, a University of Cincinnati staffer who helps harness the intellectual capital discovered at the university.
Bourbon is a senior licensing associate for the Technology Transfer team in the 1819 Innovation Hub and is pursuing her master's in molecular genetics, biochemistry and microbiology at UC. Serving as a key facilitator, she empowers faculty, students and staff to bridge the gap between discovery and commercialization. Bourbon leads all UC tech transfer activities for several colleges, including:
- College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
- College of Arts and Sciences
- College of Education, Criminal Justice, & Human Services
Ensuring that novel ideas and inventions generated within UC become real-world solutions, Bourbon navigates the landscape of negotiations, portfolio management and licensing agreements. This includes researching and evaluating new inventions from faculty for viability and uniqueness. Bourbon also markets intellectual properties (IP) to external stakeholders.
"Our goal is to give the technologies the highest chance to drive impact while also ensuring a fair and balanced return for the university and our inventors," she said. "We definitely see a win for a startup or a company that licenses our technology as a win for UC as well. We work collaboratively with our UC inventors and the rest of the 1819 Innovation Hub to make this happen."
Bourbon presents at faculty meetings and classes on intellectual property, the licensing process, commercialization and resources available through the 1819 Innovation Hub. She also works with the Venture Lab, providing guidance to innovators pursuing early-stage, scalable business concepts. With the Venture Lab, she educates teams regarding value proposition strategies, confidential information and IP concerns.
Driven by a passion for advancing innovation, she is excited about some license negotiations she is leading for inventions on topics such as:
- Biofuels
- Artificial Intelligence
- Biosensors
- Hardware for Cybersecurity
"Working with some of my favorite colleagues and inventors day-to-day, as well as being directly involved with some of the university's best technologies reaching the world is very rewarding," Bourbon said.
Bourbon developed and runs UC's Tech Transfer Internship Program for students interested in technology commercialization.
"I am proud to see how far it's come. I have loved mentoring the students and seeing each of them grow personally and professionally and go on to work as patent attorneys and even a couple as licensing associates in our own Tech Transfer group," she said.
When she is not busy fueling the advancement of entrepreneurial endeavors, you can find Bourbon playing tennis, pingpong or pickleball and spending time with her one-eyed dog, Halo.
Featured image at top: Madison Bourbon in foyer of 1819 Innovation Hub. Photo/Greg Glevicky
