Moving Research to the Marketplace: Senator Gillibrand Talks TRANSFER Act Benefits at Urban Future Lab

Introducing the crowd at the Urban Future Lab (UFL) to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Micah Kotch, the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, described her as someone “who truly understands the direct connection between university-based research and the development of new technologies—all of which lead to new companies and jobs in the high-tech field right here in Brooklyn and across our city.”

Gillibrand was at the UFL, the school’s newest business incubator, to promote the Technology and Research Accelerating National Security and Future Economic Resiliency (TRANSFER) Act, which she is sponsoring.

The bipartisan bill is aimed at helping universities, colleges, federal laboratories, and non-profit research institutions throughout the state to secure the resources needed to bring their discoveries to the marketplace, thus spurring the growth of new science and technology jobs.

Gillibrand—who was joined at the UFL by Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, among other luminaries—got to see for herself the dynamic partnerships that are forged when academia and entrepreneurship meet. On hand to meet her and explain their work were Professor Masoud Ghandehari, the founder of Chromosense, an incubator company dedicated to developing innovative environmental monitoring technologies, and Jeremy McCool, the CEO of HEVO Power, which has created wireless charging stations for electric vehicles with the help of NYU researchers.

A visibly impressed Gillibrand noted that the TRANSFER Act could help others achieve the same measure of success by funding prototype development, market research, entrepreneurial education, and more. “When I see this much talent, innovation, and vision, I know we can have a thriving economy for generations to come,” she enthused. “High-tech innovation is the future of our economy. And NYU is helping to pave the way towards growing Brooklyn’s tech sector. We must give our students, entrepreneurs, and researchers the vision and tools they need today to create the next great business tomorrow.”