AUS holds intellectual property workshop for students

Students at American University of Sharjah (AUS) learned about how intellectual property factors into the role of forming a start-up during an online workshop held by AUS in collaboration with Mathys & Squire, a leading UK-based patent attorney firm.

Twenty students from across the university were selected to participate in the workshop, which was organized by the technology transfer team from the AUS Office of Research and Graduate Studies in collaboration with the firm. Following an introductory talk, students were grouped into teams and tasked with a technological problem for which they had to find an innovative solution and formulate a strategy to commercialize these technologies in 30 minutes.

“Our vision through this workshop was to provide a platform for our students to understand the role of intellectual property when commercializing their novel ideas. As many of our students go on to become innovators and entrepreneurs, helping them develop a deeper understanding of these concepts is very important. James and Craig from Mathys & Squire were spot on with their workshop content. The AUS students were dedicated, expressive and creative,” said Dr Vaibhav Sharma, Technology Transfer Officer at AUS.

Iryn Tony, a student in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program majoring in finance, said: ‘’The workshop consisted of both theoretical and practical exercises designed specifically for beginners to comprehend the concept of intellectual property. Being a part of the winning team, I can clearly affirm that the workshop has complimented my knowledge on this domain, and the fact that we were able to practically apply it, is proof of it. All in all, it was a great session, and it gave each one of us the opportunity to interact with like-minded students and professionals from the field.’’

Rand Al-Yahya, an industrial engineering major at AUS and member of the winning team, said: “The lecturers conveyed concise and insightful material that enhanced my knowledge of intellectual property.  The competition was a very fun and engaging opportunity to apply what we had learned in a short amount of time and collaborate with a team of strangers. Despite this challenge, my team was able to win!”

Dr. James Pitchford, leading patent attorney at Mathys & Squire, spoke highly of the students’ work. “The students devised excellent solutions to the challenges we set, gave excellent pitches and the discussion went very well. We’d be pleased to do the workshop AUS again.”

As a leading university in the region, AUS has built a strong reputation as a hub for research, scholarly and creative activities, and graduate studies. A part of the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, AUS' technology transfer office focuses on promoting AUS innovations to both benefit the public and stimulate economic growth and serves as a dedicated resource for streamlining collaboration with industry. For more information on research at AUS, visit www.aus.edu/research.