By The Texas A&M University System National Laboratories Office
Andrew Miller, a Ph.D. student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University was awarded a position as the first National Laboratory Engineering Entrepreneurship Fellow.
This program is a result of collaboration among the Texas A&M System National Laboratory Office, Texas A&M Engineering and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The goal of the program is to develop a commercialization plan, based on innovation management and technology commercialization, which can become the foundation of a potential start-up company.
As part of the program, Miller will work closely with one or more LANL staff for a year while developing the commercialization plan. LANL staff are participants in the Entrepreneur Fellowship Program and DisrupTech. These programs focus on market discovery, technology translation, and commercialization of laboratory technologies.
Miller is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He moved to College Station, Texas in 2017 to start his Ph.D. program in Computer Engineering at Texas A&M. He loves working with technology, and for the past few years has been working as the CTO of his own start-up company, Battery Savers, which started as a high-school science fair project. “It hooked me on entrepreneurship,” he explained.
His excitement for both technology and entrepreneurship led him to apply to the program. He is looking forward to his collaboration with LANL staff. He shared, “Seeing research transition from a proof-of-concept into an actual product is exhilarating! I am both excited to get to work with an incredible team of researchers and organizations, as well as help small start-ups move their ideas from lab prototypes into market-ready devices.”
Miller’s fascination for entrepreneurship and Human Computer Interaction are central to his future plans. He wants to work with the start-up community to bring people new technologies that change the way people interact with computers and technology. He stated, “I would encourage my fellow students to seriously consider the impact their research could have if commercialized, and to look into the amazing resources available to them right here at A&M.”
Miller will begin his fellowship summer 2021. The National Laboratories Office hopes to expand these programs in the future.