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The days of the DOT COMs have come and gone, but they have left behind a new sense of possibilities for becoming economically self-reliant. This notion is very real to academic scientists developing high technology, whose dreams of commercializing their innovations has given way to many of the companies that currently support the WorldÕs economy. This talk is a story about my adventures while following the path of an academic entrepreneur. From dreams of glory as a graduate student to the opportunities encountered as a postdoctoral scholar. It is a story about learning and discovering new ways of creative expression. My goal is to motivate others who, like me, felt that the development and commercialization of product-oriented technologies constitutes another level in the development of a successful career. Hopefully, it will also motivate those who feel that becoming an academic entrepreneur tarnishes the purity of academic research by helping them realize that instead of shifting the goals of academic research from the acquisition of knowledge to the acquisition of wealth, entrepreneurship provides new means to develop universities, support basic and applied research, and nurture societyÕs intellectual wealth. It is thus important to strengthen the contribution of universities to research and development and innovation in areas with a potential for commercialization. This will bring a paradigm shift in the Island's economy from one depending on manufacturing to one based on technological innovation. The development of university spin-off companies is fundamental for this shift in our economic base to occur.

Jaime Ramírez-Vick is an Associate Professor in the General Engineering Department at the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez. His BS and MS degrees are in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez, the latter with a concentration in Bioengineering. He obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering at Arizona State University with a concentration in Bioengineering. During his three-year residency at there he published a textbook in Bioseparations and submitted two patent applications in addition to his doctoral degree. During that time Dr. Ramírez-Vick was also a doctoral candidate in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program working on his doctoral project titled ÒMolecular Characterization of Genes Expressed in Mouse EosinophilsÓ at the Mayo Clinic – Scottsdale. After obtaining a PhD he got his postdoctoral training in Cancer genetics at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and at the Cancer Research Center of the University of California in San Francisco. There he developed novel microarray-based technologies for the study of the genetic progression of thyroid, breast and ovarian cancers.

Dr. Ramírez-Vick has been part of three start-ups in the San Francisco Bay area involved in the development of microfluidics and MEMS-based genetic diagnostics and research tools, including bioinformatics data analysis software. During this time he has filed over thirteen patents applications related to the technologies being commercialized by these companies. Dr. Ramírez-Vick is currently developing his research infrastructure at UPRM in many aspects of using MEMS as genomic and proteomic research tools, in the development of a Bioinformatics infrastructure. Dr. Ramírez-Vick is also the proponent of a Bioengineering PhD program between the departments of the College of Engineering at UPR – Mayagüez.