Entrepreneurial activity has risen to a new level on campus, thanks to the efforts of The George Washington University Entrepreneurs Round Table (GWERT). Recently founded to promote entrepreneurial activity among faculty, alumni, and students, GWERT has sponsored a wide range of activities, including brown bag lunches, seminars, and lecture series. These functions facilitate networking and provide critical educational information to entrepreneurs. Presentations have addressed funding, startups, technology transfer, commercialization, business entities, and the protection of intellectual property rights.

GW is a major research university with research expenditures of $120 million dollars annually. As GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg recently stated: “Research here and at other universities plays a major role in the expansion of the American economy and the enhancement of human knowledge. The great Eureka! moments of discovery – especially in medicine, science, and engineering – are nearly always proclaimed on university campuses.”

Research universities like GW have only begun to realize the financial gains possible through the marketing of technology. Through licensing, universities transfer their technologies to companies able to commercialize this information. This, in turn, promotes economic development at the local community level and also benefits the university retaining ownership of the technology.

GWERT hopes to bridge the gap between the technologies that GW offers and local entrepreneurs. Indeed, the organization has already had several successes; recently School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) professor Simon Berkovich and his doctoral student Alexander Kuznetsov were paired with local entrepreneurs to form a new venture, SNAPP Technologies Corporation, which actively commercializes GW patent-protected technologies. The successful match-up occurred at a Lab to IPO lecture series, sponsored by Tony Stanco, director of the SEAS Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer and Commercialization.

GWERT is also working to unify entrepreneurial activities that were previously independently promoted by various GW schools. GWERT collaborates with the Medical Center, SEAS, and the School of Business (GWSB) to market upcoming activities that are of interest to entrepreneurs. One of our most successful series of events is the Meet the Venture Capitalists and Angels series, which introduce nearly 100 local venture capitalists and angels to startup companies.

Entrepreneurial networking benefits the entire GW community. Alumni improve their business opportunities, while simultaneously giving back to their alma mater. Angels can better target their investments in GW entrepreneurs, researchers, and inventors. GW startup companies can promote their activities through the GWERT forum and improve their business skills.

GWERT was co-founded by alumni Tejbir Phool, MSEE, SEAS, ’04, an entrepreneur and founder of his second hi-tech company; Peter Weissman, JD, ’96, an inventor and attorney at Blank Rome, where he counsels start up companies; and GW faculty member Tony Stanco, director of the SEAS Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer and Commercialization.

GWERT is actively looking to increase faculty, alumni, and student involvement. To learn more about GWERT and its activities, to promote an activity, or to become involved, please visit us at www.gwert.org, or e-mail tejbir@gwu.edu, weissman@blankrome.com, or stanco@gwu.edu.