Syracuse, NY
Welch Allyn CEO Julie Shimer and Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor opened the doors to a dream they announced earlier this year-a university/ industry incubator located on the SU campus that will accelerate the new product development process from invention to commercialization of new science and technologies designed primarily for the diagnostic healthcare industry.
The new LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) is called Blue Highway and housed in 4,000 square feet named after Richard W. Newman a 40-year employee at Welch Allyn who always made it a point to reach out to the academic community for new ideas.
Located within the NYSTAR-sponsored CASE Center on the SU campus, Blue Highway has created offices for the 10 full- and part-time staff that moved from Welch Allyn's Advanced R&D Team-including former Chief Technology Officer, now Blue Highway CEO Albert Di Rienzo. "We're very proud of our new home here at SU-the University helped us customize our space and tied us into their IT infrastructure,"
said Di Rienzo.
In addition to their staff offices, Blue Highway created new shared space to accommodate student interns from SU academic units representing various disciplines-including the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, the College of Law and the Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises at the Whitman School of Management. Student interns will work with their academic advisors to apply the theories learned in the classroom to a real business situation with real deadlines-and they bring "real benefits to us as a business enterprise," said M. Jack Rudnick, senior vice president of legal and government affairs at Blue Highway.
According to Shimer, infrastructure and intern help are only two of the benefits of Blue Highway's involvement with SU: "Blue Highway will allow Welch Allyn to fill its product pipeline faster, with new technology to address future customer needs, and with increased efficiency and focus. There will also be a greater ability to collaborate with university researchers throughout the world and leverage the many resources and advantages that an innovation incubator is afforded." These are tangible benefits to any parent company, Shimer said.
"Blue Highway is an example of how the public, private and nonprofit sectors can work together to elevate a local economy to the global stage," said Cantor. "As Welch Allyn and SU scientists and engineers partner on exciting new frontline medical technologies and bring them to market, they'll also enhance the learning experience for students through guest lectures, internships and other opportunities. We know this partnership will stimulate growth in the kind of jobs that will help us retain the best and brightest here in Central New York. It's a vivid example of what we at SU call Scholarship in Action, leveraging the assets of a community of experts-formed in this case by Welch Allyn, New York State and Syracuse University."
Welch Allyn and SU are part of a growing trend of corporate collaborators among industry and higher education. Earlier this year, the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation issued a report titled "Accelerating the Commercialization of University Innovation," that noted the strategic use of "Proof-of-Concept Centers," like Blue Highway, already in use at MIT and the University of California-San Diego.
Lesa Mitchell, vice president of advancing innovation at the Kauffman Foundation, who recently toured Blue Highway said, "Many people aspire to create effective collaboration between the campus and the corporate communities-having visited the Blue Highway team at SU, they seem to be among the few groups who have the promise of real success."
To date, Blue Highway has reached out to some 50 research teams worldwide, scanning for those concepts felt to have the best chance of improving medical diagnosis at the most effective point of care. The list of university alliances includes a number of New York state institutions-Columbia University, the University at Buffalo, the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology and SUNY Upstate Medical University-as well as a longstanding Welch Allyn relationship with Dartmouth College and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. After creating their own rapid triage process for evaluating outside ideas, the Blue Highway team created a page on their website (www.blue-highway.com) for communicating with outside inventors of new medical technology.
"All of us at Blue Highway love being on the cutting edge of technology and appreciate the opportunity to create an economic benefit here in Central New York," said Di Rienzo.
The formula seems to be working as Blue Highway has been rewarded with a number of matching grants from the local MDA, NYSERDA and NYSTAR.
About Blue Highway LLC
As a wholly owned subsidiary of Welch Allyn, Inc., Blue Highway exists to create innovative intellectual capital by collaborating with academic researchers, industry experts and government agencies. Blue Highway researchers focus primarily on the future of diagnostic healthcare-early detection, diagnosis and aggregation of data for comprehensive clinical support. More information about Blue Highway LLC can be found at www.blue-highway.com.
About Welch Allyn
Founded in 1915 and headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, New York (USA), Welch Allyn is a leading global manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment and a complete range of digital and connected solutions. With over 2,300 employees working in 17 different countries, Welch Allyn specializes in helping doctors, nurses, and other frontline practitioners across the globe provide the best patient care by developing innovative products, breakthrough technologies, and cutting-edge solutions that help them see more patients, detect more conditions, and improve more lives. More information about Welch Allyn and its complete line of connected products and solutions may be found at www.welchallyn.com.
Welch Allyn Global
