For the first time since 2019, Innovation Gateway hosted an Innovation Celebration on Feb. 5, honoring University of Georgia inventors and entrepreneurs for their contributions over the past five years.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Gateway would host an annual luncheon to celebrate the achievements of UGA innovators over the preceding year. This year, it caught up on lost time.
In addition to networking in the Delta Innovation Hub, faculty and staff attendees also had the opportunity to collect commemorative swag items, including an innovator license plate for first-time patent recipients and an Innovation Celebration 2025 coin for all patent recipients or company founders since 2019.
Derek Eberhart, associate vice president for research and executive director of Innovation Gateway, welcomed guests before introducing Chris King, interim vice president for research. King emphasized the university’s commitment to innovation and its robust track record in technology commercialization highlighting achievements from the past five years.
In that time, 201 U.S. patents, plant variety protection certificates, and trademarks were issued to the UGA Research Foundation, reflecting the efforts of more than 150 inventors. This research has fueled the founding of more than 25 startup companies, and more than 300 products stemming from UGA research have entered the marketplace, generating upwards of $57 million in licensing revenue. These innovations span diverse fields, such as research and educational tools, software, vaccines and diagnostics for human and animal health, medical devices, and new plant varieties.
“The event was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the creativity and determination of UGA inventors and entrepreneurs,” said Eberhart. “Their groundbreaking work continues to push the boundaries of innovation, transforming ideas into real-world solutions that drive economic impact and advance UGA’s land-grant mission.”
Members of the Innovation Gateway team took the celebration on the road to visit and honor faculty at the Griffin campus, and they will visit the Tifton campus on March 13.
UGA is currently ranked No. 1 among U.S. universities for the number of new research-based products to market, according to the annual survey by AUTM. It has ranked in the top two in this measure for nine consecutive years and has never placed outside the top five.
The university’s research enterprise continues to grow at an impressive pace, fueling the innovation pipeline. Over the past decade, UGA’s research and development expenditures have surged nearly 68%, reaching $628.1 million in fiscal year 2024.
