The University of Houston’s Center for Advanced Materials (CAM) hosted a U.S. State Department event in December that brought South American and U.S. scholars together to share ideas on taking scientific discoveries from the lab to the market.

The meetings, led by UH physics professor Alex Ignatiev, director of CAM, included visitors from universities in Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela. Discussion focused on intellectual property protection, patenting, and methods for forming spin-off companies to commercialize university-developed technologies.

CAM was chosen to host the conference because it has been recognized by the State Department as an academic research center that is actively involved in new energy research and has successfully transferred technologies, spun-off new companies and spurred economic development.

CAM has also hosted three previous State Department conferences with international scholars on topics including renewable energy and energy security.