Many scientific discoveries have the potential to reach beyond the lab and into the market. Cornell University researchers are contributing to a body of knowledge that advances their fields and are increasingly translating those discoveries into real-world applications.
On May 20, Cornell’s Center for Technology Licensing (CTL) brought together inventors from across colleges and campuses in Ithaca and at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City for Bearers of Innovation: A One Cornell Celebration. The event recognized 82 lead inventors who submitted their first invention disclosure to CTL in fiscal year 2024 or fiscal year 2025, and 306 inventors whose technologies were licensed or optioned during that same period.
“Technology commercialization matters,” said Alice Li, executive director of CTL, during her welcome. “It’s more important than ever that we move our work beyond the labs.”
Today, more than 1,000 Cornell technologies are licensed to over 500 industry partners worldwide. In the last fiscal year, Cornell launched 20 new technology ventures — a new institutional record. Across the past five years, the overall technology startup portfolio has raised over $2.4 billion in funding.
