LeVass Ventures Senior Advisor Dr. Jan Odegard will participate in the 2026 TechConnect World Innovation Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. The conference brings together university leaders, industry representatives, investors, and commercialization partners to discuss innovation, research translation, and emerging technology sectors.
The event aligns broadly with LeVass Ventures' ongoing work with universities, innovation districts, and organizations focused on translating research and ideas into real-world impact. The conference offers an opportunity to engage with peers across the university and innovation ecosystem landscape and to stay current on discussions around commercialization pathways, university-industry collaboration, and sector-specific innovation trends.
What Jan Will Be Doing
Jan will participate in two sessions focused on innovation ecosystems and commercialization pathways. His contributions will center on practical perspectives related to coordination across institutions, talent, capital, and development strategy.
University Innovations – Driving Economic Impact - Tuesday, March 10 | 10:30 AM
This program examines how universities generate economic impact through research commercialization, innovation partnerships, and ecosystem development. Jan will join the panel "It Takes a Village: Innovation Ecosystem Building," focusing on the structures that support moving research into market applications and the key stakeholders required to bridge the gap between lab and industry.
The Impact of Photonics: Bridging the Commercialization Gap - Wednesday, March 11 | 9:30 AM
This session explores advances in photonics and the pathways supporting their development. Jan and the panel will specifically address the evolving role of academic institutions in the intellectual property (IP) pipeline. (minor: "Intellectual Property" does not need to be capitalized mid-sentence; "IP" is fine on first reference after spelling out)
The discussion will examine what universities are currently doing well—such as fostering early-stage deep tech startups through accelerators—and where they may be falling short. (suggestion: remove quotation marks around "deep tech" as it is now standard industry terminology)
Key topics include:
The "Valley of Death": Why photonics and hardware-heavy IP often struggle to attract patient capital within traditional university tech transfer offices. (minor: changed "find" to "attract" for clarity; removed quotes around "patient capital" as it is standard terminology)
IP Friction: How rigid licensing structures can sometimes hinder the speed of commercialization. (removed "rather than help" as it is implied)
Ecosystem Gaps: What universities are not doing to prepare researchers for the decade-long development horizons required for photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
Conference Information
Details and registration: https://techconnectworld.com