The Professional Science Master’s (PSM) program encourages students to participate in hands-on, experiential learning. As a renowned research institute, Rutgers University offers many opportunities for students to partake in the world of innovative research.
This year, five of our Master of Business and Science (MBS) degree students were selected for fellowship programs offered by Innovation Ventures (Rutgers Technology Transfer Office, TTO), part of the Office for Research. Four were selected for the Technology Transfer Fellowship and one was selected for the TechAdvance Senior Fellowship.
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Reena Sikand, Drug Discovery & Development (Senior Fellow, Commercialization Funding)
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Alicia Blake, Personal Care Science (Fellow)
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Nadine Johnson-Farley, Drug Discovery & Development (Fellow)
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Yihuang Li, Analytics: Discovery Informatics & Data Sciences (Fellow, International)
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Alex Zylka, Food Science (Fellow)
This is not the first time that an MBS student has been awarded this fellowship. MBS Alumni Aparna Jadhav was selected for the first-ever TechAdvance Internship, and then was selected for the Technology Marketing & Business Development Senior Fellowship.
Left to right: Reena Sikand, Alicia Blake, Nadine Johnson-Farley, Yihuang Li, Alex Zylka
About the Fellowship
The Technology Transfer Fellowship allows students to learn about intellectual property through first-hand experience. Students are trained in the classroom and assigned to work with a licensing manager.
The Senior Fellowship offers three subprograms:
Innovation Ventures serves as the point of contact for many Rutgers inventors and researchers—including faculty, staff, students, or fellows—who have research that can be commercialized into a product, commodity, or software by licensing managers.
How does this fellowship help?
“Any role at any TTO is not a streamlined occupation and no formal training/program exists,” said Eusebio Pires, Ph.D., MBA, Senior Manager of Technology Marketing and Business Development. “In that regard, we launched this fellowship where we train grad students—you know, Masters, Ph.Ds., or postdoctoral fellows—to get some hands-on experience in the field before they think of alternative careers such as our path.”
Yihuang Li, a first-year MBS student, explained what first drew her to the fellowship: Rutgers’ reputation as an acclaimed research-oriented university.
“The learning opportunity in an exciting and professional surrounding really attracts me,” said Li. “I genuinely wanted to be part of this honorable program at Rutgers and contribute my efforts to world innovation and society. And it is also a way for me to give back to Rutgers.” Li attended Rutgers for four years as an undergraduate student, majoring in computer science and minoring in studio art.
Fellows are finding that this fellowship provides invaluable exposure to patent law and intellectual property that they can use in many different career paths.
“It’s helping me understand the process,” said Alicia Blake, Senior Scientist at Estée Lauder. “Working in a corporation, working in R&D, a lot of times—even if we are the inventor—we're not necessarily involved in the whole patent process.” She continued, “This has helped me understand how partnerships are created between different corporations and universities, and how technology can continually evolve and expand into new product forms and industries just from simply creating a partnership between the two.”
For Nadine Johnson-Farley, the MBS course Fundamentals of Intellectual Property piqued her interest in the subject.
“I was hooked when it came to the project assignments,” she said. “I realized that IP is all around us. Everything has an IP. I found it fascinating. When the fellowship was advertised on Canvas, I applied right away. I felt that I could learn so much more.”
For students interested in intellectual property surrounding technology, this is a one-of-a-kind experience.
“I don’t think many schools offer this type of hands-on training and fellowship opportunities as a structured program. Rutgers does, and we are proud to have launched this fellowship,” said Pires.
What Makes a Successful Fellow?
Fellows are chosen from a university-wide pool of applicants. Pires explained that the committee examines a candidate holistically during the selection process. Dr. Shemaila Sultana is the point of contact for these fellowships at Innovation Ventures.
“We look at everything,” said Pires. “We look at how the recommendation letter falls into place, and we look at what their goals are in the future, how it aligns with what we’re doing, and how this training is going to help them in their jobs down the line.”
Pires noted that the unique blend of science and business knowledge provides our students with the skills necessary to succeed in this fellowship.
“Especially for our area—if you’re doing marketing, or you’re doing commercialization funding, or you’re doing a startup, you are involved in the technology and the research of the inventor,” Pires said. “You have to at least understand the language that the inventor speaks to us.”
According to Li, completing an MBS Externship gave her the confidence to apply.
“Through those experiences and many amazing advisors’ support,” she said, “not only did I strengthen my professional skills, but also I got to learn more about myself as a person. And that really helped me a lot when applying for this fellowship, because I felt confident that this is something I value and a place I want to be part of. Special thanks to Lori Dars, Abbe Rosenthal, and Dr. Christie Nelson for encouraging and assisting me in the application process.”
The MBS degree also provides opportunities for students to sharpen their presentation and communication skills, assets that are invaluable for this fellowship.
“We have to do a lot of presenting on a professional level,” said Alex Zylka. “You need to have those presentation skills. All of the classes that I’ve taken at MBS have definitely helped me.”
“I believe the MBS program overall was a great help,” said Johnson-Farley. “The program prepares the students for success.”
Creating a Network of Opportunities
In addition to the singular nature of this fellowship, students will have important networking opportunities. Innovation Ventures contains a pool of well-qualified staff, including MBS instructor Ryan Escolin.
“If they work with me, it doesn’t mean that they just interact with me,” Pires said. “They work with all the other stakeholders in our office, so they have the opportunity to learn from everyone.” He also noted that Senior Fellows interact with professionals within their own industry, giving them a competitive advantage when applying for positions.
“One of the most valuable qualities of the MBS program is that it uniquely offers exposure to career paths that students may not have otherwise considered and the opportunities to obtain relevant experience,” said Escolin, MBS’15. “Several MBS alumni have pivoted their career paths, including myself, thanks to this curriculum. I am delighted to see that the number of MBS students who are inspired to pursue opportunities involving Intellectual Property, such as the Technology Transfer Fellowship, continues to increase. This fellowship provides hands-on training to develop skills relevant to the process of commercializing IP-protected innovations. This type of work provides exposure to cutting-edge research in multiple disciplines. I encourage all students to explore a career in this exciting space.”
Escolin is Co-Instructor for Fundamentals of Intellectual Property, a Licensing Manager at Innovation Ventures, and a J.D. Candidate at Rutgers Law School.
“The experience has been wonderful so far,” said Senior Fellow Reena Sikand. “I have weekly 1:1's with my mentor where we go over different technologies and the process in getting those closer to market. Right now, I am enjoying putting together reviewer evaluations over a PI's final technology report for additional review to see what more can be done or added to make this a more appealing technology.” Sikand also sits on the Graduate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and serves as a teaching assistant in the PSM program underneath Dr. Michael Shakarjian.
Li noted, “As a [23-year-old] and a first-year graduate student working with so many experienced scholars, Ph.D. students, and post-docs in this program, I genuinely feel honored and humbled. I get to learn so much from everyone else. And I will help enable those innovations by collaborating with companies ranging from Fortune 100 to startups. Super exciting! I am doing meaningful work with incredible people.”
Ultimately, this fellowship opens students to new career possibilities which they may not have otherwise considered.
“When you study science,” said Blake, “there are more career and academic options than solely getting a Ph.D. or working on the lab bench. You can do so much, but you just need the knowledge and the tools to do so, which the MBS program—and this fellowship are providing.”
If you are interested in applying for this fellowship, keep an eye on the Innovation Ventures website or contact them via email (innovate@research.rutgers.edu). Promotion for next year’s fellowship will begin in Spring/Summer of 2023 for the Senior Fellowship/TechTransfer Fellowship programs respectively.