UNC-Chapel Hill has a new leader tasked with turning the university’s robust research portfolio into commercial opportunities.
Dedric Carter on Monday began his role as the university’s chief innovation officer and its vice chancellor for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development. Carter joined UNC-Chapel Hill from Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as vice chancellor and chief commercialization officer.
UNC’s previous chief innovation officer, Michelle Bolas, stepped down to join NCInnovation, a not-for-profit group tasked with helping schools in the UNC system commercialize their research and technology. NCInnovation will have regional hubs at schools across the state.
Carter spent 10 years at Washington University in various roles that focused on growing the school’s innovation portfolio. During his time there, the university increased its number of faculty startups from about three a year to an average of six or seven, with some years reaching 10.
He sees opportunity for a long improvement arc at UNC-Chapel Hill as well. The school already has a strong foundation for research, which exceeds $1 billion. The opportunity to turn this portfolio into commercial products is one of the main factors that attracted Carter to the position. Commercialization is a key part of the research process, rather than an ancillary benefit. This isn’t a mindset shared by everybody in higher education, but getting more people to buy into this vision is one of Carter’s priorities.
“By accepting dollars to do the research, we’re compelled to think about how to commercialize the outcome so that it impacts the human condition,” Carter said.
There are various factors that complicate the process of turning research into commercial opportunities, with funding often serving as a critical hurdle. Faculty may secure federal grants to support early work that could produce promising results, but sometimes this work is not yet far enough along to attract venture capital dollars. This is a difficult stretch to overcome, especially at a time when venture capital funding is already hard to come by.
This is an area of focus for Carter’s office, which aims to bring in resources and capital to help move projects further along. He also plans to review university policies and procedures to make sure there are no structural issues getting in the way of faculty members commercializing their ideas.
Carter plans to take the next few months to listen and engage with his team in order to craft a strategy that will guide the department.
“The best way we can make an impact is by taking our technology and putting it into a commercial vehicle,” Carter said.
Carter is joining the university shortly after Innovate Carolina opened an office in a new building in downtown Chapel Hill. Innovate Carolina has about 20,000 square feet of space in the 7-story building at 136 E. Rosemary St.
Prior to joining Washington University, Carter was a senior advisor in the office of the director at the U.S. National Science Foundation. Carter was also previously an assistant dean of engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent time as a consultant in the information technology industry.
| UNC-CH