Discussed project with a professor in engineering:

• She felt that it is very important to validate the technology first, rather than follow a community validation model, as people would not likely risk any amount of money on a tool that isn’t guaranteed to perform a certain function. Even re-creating an existing model may be enough to convince people.
• Emphasized finding one great application as a launching point – something that only 3D printing can do, or something that is made considerably easier by 3D printing. Of course, the application in question will only come to light by talking to more people!

Interviewed a UBC professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering. He comes more from the technology creation side than from the technology use side, but had some helpful comments. First, he was very aware of 3D cell cultures and tissues, and said he has seen or heard of other people doing similar things. It seems there is a lot of interest in this area, so IP differentiation is going to be all the more important moving forward. Though he could not see many immediate uses in his own work for 3D cell constructs, he suggested several other highly relevant groups to talk to:

• CCRM – Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine
• Stem Cell Technologies
• Researchers/organizations working on personalized medicine, regenerative medicine, and biomaterials

In terms of the interview itself, we need to be a little better at being “status down”, but it was still a positive interview.