The Technology Transfer Cell and the Office of the Dean of Research successfully organised a one-day workshop, “Idea to Impact: A Workshop on Research Commercialisation,” on August 13, 2026. The workshop aimed to explore how to turn lab research into real-world applications and solutions that create impact. Mr Vijay Rathan Linga, Techno-Legal Advisor, SRMDEI, SRMIST and Dr Yuvarani MS, Associate, Technology Transfer, SRMDEI, SRMIST, were the resource persons for the workshop.

In his lecture, “Exploring the journey from idea to commercialisation,” Mr Vijay Rathan shared insights into how research can be translated into a product or service that generates revenue. He emphasised that the market is for the problem and not the solution, further elaborating that understanding the depth and connecting with the problem will help generate revenue from the solution – it is not the solution but the accessibility to the solution that will generate revenue. He also traced the process from idea to commercialisation: idea validation, market research, prototype development, talking to potential clients, and technology validation through testing centres.

Dr Yuvarani gave a comprehensive introduction to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and how to create and identify research value. She highlighted the different types of IPR and how they support a country’s industrial development and economic growth. Her talk underscored that a research outcome can create value when it solves a problem, addresses a market need, improves an existing process, reduces cost, increases efficiency, or generates social or economic impact. She also said universities and research institutions generate significant intellectual assets, but their economic value is realised only when these assets are properly protected and transferred to industry.

The workshop concluded by encouraging faculty, research scholars, and students to actively participate in research and innovation and convert their work into viable products that benefit society. Associate Dean of Technology Transfer Prof. GS Vinod Kumar highlighted the university’s research excellence and said that in 2019, SRM University-AP had only 5 patents, but in nine years, the patent count has risen to 700+, with more than 120 granted. He encourages faculty members to focus on technology transfer and research commercialisation by licensing IP rights or starting a spinoff.