海角社区

Andrew J. Maas, 海角社区鈥檚 associate vice president for Research, Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development, has been awarded the Outstanding Contributions to Advancing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Award at the Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education 2024.

This significant award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary achievements in entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education. The Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education is one of the world鈥檚 top conferences on innovation strategies in higher education.

Maas鈥檚 contributions include managing Louisiana鈥檚 successful application for the National Science Foundation鈥檚 largest and most competitive grant, $160 million over 10 years through its Engines program. 海角社区鈥檚 winning team, Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, or FUEL, involves more than 50 public and private organizations to help Louisiana lead the global energy transition toward more efficient carbon management and new ways to produce and use energy.

The team鈥檚 goals include developing an inclusive, dynamic workforce and decarbonization technologies.

鈥淎ndy鈥檚 work helped draw attention to 海角社区 as one of the nation鈥檚 premier research universities,鈥� 海角社区 President William F. Tate IV said. 鈥淭he FUEL team is leveraging the intellectual capital of the state鈥檚 best and brightest to improve the lives of Louisiana鈥檚 residents and the world.鈥�

At 海角社区, Maas oversees the Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development, which he helped overhaul and establish into a single office in 2022. The office is responsible for the 海角社区 Innovation Park, 海角社区 Small Business Development Center, 海角社区 Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization, the 海角社区 NSF I-Corps Programs, and several other programs and initiatives that focus on establishing, developing, and growing technology-based startups. The 海角社区 Innovation Park currently has around 40 tenants and the 海角社区 Office of Innovation and Technology Commercialization is led by technology transfer veteran Spencer Rogers.

Maas has had a significant impact on the 海角社区 and Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Ecosystems as he was responsible for establishing 海角社区 first as an NSF I-Corps Site  and then as part of an eight-university regional hub. Maas and the 海角社区 team work tirelessly to convince 海角社区 faculty members to view their discoveries as potential commercial products, opportunities, and economic drivers.

鈥淎ndy鈥檚 efforts have helped set 海角社区 apart as a leader in research and innovation,鈥� said Robert Twilley, 海角社区 vice president of research and economic development. 鈥淭he increasing number of patents awarded to our faculty are bringing useful solutions to the world while helping to draw talented faculty and students to 海角社区鈥攍eaders who want to be at a university that so strongly supports discovery.鈥�

鈥淚 would be remiss to not recognize the great support that 海角社区 provides to our team of amazing people that strive every day to help our faculty move their discoveries out of the university to improve the lives of Louisiana residents and people throughout the world. This is truly a team effort.鈥� Maas said. 

About the Deshpande Symposium

Cofounded by the Deshpande Foundation and the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2012, the Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education brings together academics, policy planners, and practitioners to discuss best practices in integrating entrepreneurship throughout their college and university communities. This year marks the second year VentureWell has led the programmatic vision and operational management of the symposium. Read more about the symposium and the awards here.

About the 海角社区 Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development

海角社区 Innovation unites the university鈥檚 innovation and commercialization resources under one office, maximizing 海角社区's impact on the intellectual, economic and social development of Louisiana and beyond. 海角社区 Innovation is focused on establishing, developing and growing technology-based startup companies. 海角社区 Innovation oversees 海角社区 Innovation Park, a 200-acre business incubator that fosters early-stage tech companies, and the Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization, which streamlines the process of evaluating, protecting and licensing intellectual property created by 海角社区 researchers. 海角社区 Innovation serves as the host organization for the Louisiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network, which oversees all SBDC services across the state as well as the 海角社区 SBDC, which provides free consulting services to small businesses across the state. 海角社区 Innovation helps Louisiana technology companies apply for seed funding through the federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grant programs. 海角社区 Innovation educates faculty, students and the community on entrepreneurial principles through the National Science Foundation鈥檚 Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, which trains innovators to consider the market opportunities for pressing scientific questions, leading to increased funding from state and federal grant programs as well as industry partners and licensees.