IC² Institute hosts “From Lab to Market” seminar for Fulbright Scholars

The IC² Institute welcomed 32 Fulbright foreign students for a four-day seminar on translating scientific discovery into economic and social progress.

As a host for the “From Lab to Market” seminar, IC² Institute Director John Sibley Butler believes it is essential for Fulbright students to be aware of how technological advances in engineering, computer and information sciences can support achievements in a variety of endeavors.

“We want these young scholars to understand the economic realities behind the science, and to understand how to successfully move ideas into the marketplace,” he said. “That includes the principles of wealth creation, which cross all disciplines.”

Butler is a member of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Also hosting the Austin visit is board member Shirley Greene, former director of correspondence and constituent services in the Office of the Governor of Texas.

Speakers at the event included Raymond Lee Orbach, director of the Energy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, and Gary Hoover, entrepreneur-in-residence with the Kelleher Center. In addition, the students visited local businesses, including Sand Hill Energy Center and Imagine Solar.

“These outstanding Fulbright students represent shining lights of opportunity for the nations and communities in which they live. Our hope is to bring them into contact with a broad range of viewpoints and expertise from across the university and the Austin innovation community,” said University President William Powers Jr.

“From Lab to Market” is a Fulbright Enrichment Seminar sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is organized by the Institute of International Education. The students are among more than 3,000 visiting students studying at the graduate level at U.S. colleges and universities under the Fulbright Program, sponsored by ECA.

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June 6, 2010