From "Aha!" to Commercialization: Cultivating the Thrill of Discovery

ENGenuity spoke with four Caltech Engineering and Applied Science (EAS) faculty to gain insight into how Aha! moments are generated as well as advice on how an unexpected flash of brilliance can evolve into a business venture. Our conversations cover the challenges of commercialization, the thrill of discovery, the cultivation of serendipity, the philosophy of creativity, and more.

ENGenuity: What Aha! moments changed your path?

Axel Scherer: The very first project I worked on was back in Bell Labs, when we built little optical switches. Starting in 1986, we decided to make an optical computer. The idea was light would come in, you would change that light with a number of optical switches, using input voltages or optical signals somehow, and then all of the computer functions would be done with light and at the speed of light. So we needed lots of optical logic gates, and we made these logic gates smaller and smaller. Suddenly, when we measured one of these gates in 1989, we saw a really narrow peak and noticed that it was lasing. It wasn't a switch; it was a switch and a laser. That was the beginning of vertical cavity lasers, which has turned into a $4 billion industry. Every phone has a thousand such lasers and eighty percent of the active fibers for data communications use vertical cavity lasers. That was one device that came out of not making what we originally wanted, which was an optical switch. Instead, we understood that this light source was probably more important than the switch, and we pivoted to building vertical cavity lasers. It was purely an accident. It was not something we expected; it was not something we designed on purpose.

Ever since then, I have become somewhat of a gambler. I'm almost looking for this sort of serendipity. And I tell my students: serendipity is found in the lab. If you go into the lab and just do things and try things and make things, you might come across it. You can never predict what you're going to find. That's the beauty of research; you never really know ahead of time. That's how our gambling instincts keeps us being researchers, because we always think the next serendipitous result is around the corner.

Ali Hajimiri: The first company I started was Axiom Microdevices. There was a component of a cell phone called a power amplifier, which generates power and allows you to send data between your smart phone and the cell antenna. But it was difficult to use the cheaper and more reliable CMOS technology used in processor to implement them, and nobody had done it. Luminaries of the field were coming and giving presentations and showing "proofs" of why this cannot be done. We took that as a dare.

The first path that you take when you try to do something that people say can't be done is to challenge the assumptions they're making. So we went through the process of trying to prove them wrong by using a truly distributed approach to the design. Ultimately, we developed the world's first cell-phone CMOS power amplifier, which came as a shock to a lot of people who were predicting that it can't be done.

We took that technology and patented it through Caltech, licensed the patents from Caltech, and then went out and started a company, Axiom Microdevices.

Mory Gharib: When I was a grad student, working at JPL, I designed a compact camera to see how the fuel from jet engines sprays. This concept resurfaced when I worked on a project for the Office of the Naval Research. The Navy wanted a way to identify tiny bubbles under naval vessels and suppress them to avoid detection. So I developed my idea from JPL into an even more compact form for their application. When placed under a boat, the compact camera can see where the bubbles originate. Many years later, I was at my dentist's office and they put bad tasting impression material in my mouth to get a 3D model of my teeth. I really disliked that impression material, and I thought there must be a better way of getting dental impression. Aha! The same camera used for the Navy can be further reduced in size to scan teeth. A dentist can use the compact camera inside your mouth and then send a 3D image to be used to make a crown in one day. I filed a patent, got the patent issued, and then created a startup.

Julia Greer: When I was a PhD student, we discovered that if you make individual nanostructures out of a very malleable metal like gold or copper, those metals become exceptionally strong, as strong as steel, even at room temperature. That's very unusual and unexpected. Every textbook will tell you that the strength of gold stays the same no matter what the size is. It turns out we just hadn't explored below a certain length scale. When you get down to micrometers and especially to nanoscale, the strength of a solid material can go up by one or two orders of magnitude. What if we were to make a three-dimensional construct with overall dimensions of a sheet of paper, where each individual building block would be nano-sized and hence, super strong? Testing these structures led to an epiphany – the aha! If you subject them to ballistic impact, like shooting a small bullet at them, they can withstand the impact without transmitting the impact onto underlying layers. They'll protect whatever is behind them with energy absorption capabilities even better than Kevlar. That's how the idea behind nFugue—which makes lightweight, nano-architected armor—was born. In this case, our investors suggested the lightweight armor as a key application. Our research paper got the attention of the Department of Defense, which led to research funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

ENGenuity: What are the main challenges in translating innovation to commercialization?

Greer: The set of challenges to develop a technology is different from the set of challenges to put it into production. When you're doing research, if one sample doesn't work then you just make another one or you figure out what you did wrong, but there's no requirement that you must produce them reliably each time. Of course, to manufacture a product you really do need to produce reliable results.

Scherer: The main challenge is not losing the spirit of discovery. You start with a fantastic idea and no money and then you end up with a lot of money and no ideas. It's extremely important to understand that this process is not all engineering and science; it requires a community of people that all have their role. And this is not always appreciated well by either side. Sometimes the corporate community doesn't understand the need for creativity and sometimes the creative people don't understand the benefits that corporate culture brings.

The interpretation between the two is a big challenge.

And you must learn from your failure; that's the key. Many people can't do that, they'll keep on doing the same thing. It's important for people to see that if they don't learn from their mistakes they will never succeed.

Gharib: How do you get to a point where you have enough data to know that you can prove to other people – investors and major partners – that what you have is a viable system? It requires you put together a good team, raise enough funding, but not too much, and deliver. Those are three challenges: a good team, raising enough funds to achieve your goals, and then deliver.

Hajimiri: There are two sides to innovation: a top-down tree and bottom-up tree. An example of the top-down tree is when you have an application in mind and you are looking to create a device for that application. That's a top-down, classical engineering approach; you define something and figure out how to break it down to smaller pieces and then divide and conquer. Then there's the bottom-up approach where you see an interesting phenomenon or an object that behaves in a strange fashion—many people dismiss this. But you think, if I build around this interesting phenomenon, maybe I can make a device. That's a bottom-up tree. The trick is to find places where this top-down tree and bottom-up tree intersect. The branches of these two trees intersect at some points and finding those points allows you to view a path from an application all the way to your concept, new phenomenon, or invention.

However, there are other practical challenges. One is the very early phase from the conception of an idea to a point where you have a sufficiently meaningful prototype for which you can raise funding. Another challenge is translating a working prototype into a source of revenue for a company. This is where a lot of companies fail. Those two phases are two valleys of death. But you need to bridge them somehow; you must get across by being resourceful.

ENGenuity: What advice do you have for students or colleagues interested in entrepreneurship?

Hajimiri: I try to guide them in the process of pruning that bottom-up/top-down tree. You want to start with many branches, but only pursue the better branches and cut the rest. The idea-generation phase has to be very open. But the idea execution and pruning phase both need to be tight and based on scientific principles. It's a repetitive and iterative process.

The other thing that I try to help them understand is that a successful technology is only one-third of a successful business. After the idea is created, the next phase is to develop a business plan and a way to present it. Create a compelling and cohesive story that explains the differentiation of the technology and the market, and how these two can be brought within a framework to a meaningful revenue stream within a well-defined time frame. Those are the things that you need for a successful business. Technology is only one leg of that tripod.

Scherer: I think the most important advice is you must be very flexible and able to adapt your ideas to the input people give you. You should listen to people giving you advice. Be attentive to people who try to help you or hurt you. Often, we are so caught up with our idea and we're so focused on it, that we think we have all the answers when, in fact, maybe we don't. That openness to taking outside experiences and using them is very valuable. The other corollary here is that we think science and engineering is the most important aspect, but to make a successful product, it's only part of the story. You need all sorts of other things like marketing and sales. Ideas do not sell themselves. To put it in a nutshell: take advice. Don't try to do it all by yourself. Because if it's worth doing, it requires lots of help.

Gharib: Don't fall in love with your ideas. Let other people contribute to it, make it better, and at some point, the founders should pull back and let a good team do the job.

ENGenuity: What climate does Caltech provide for entrepreneurship?

Gharib: We have one of the best technology transfer offices in the country [Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships]. They have an entrepreneur in residence; they have people who are experts in patent protection. Get advice from them if you don't know anybody else. They help in many ways, especially if the technology is Caltech related.

Greer: Caltech is a bit unique. Nobody tells you what to do. It's very much the culture of ‘if you build it, they will come.' Because the faculty have this freedom to freely explore, it inspires people. I'm excited by this stuff, so I inspire my students. Then they also become excited. It's in that culture that ideas are born. We collaborate with others quite a bit and we demonstrate interesting new phenomena. These new ideas give you a research high, and you can ride that wave for a while. Student-driven ideas are very supported at Caltech. That independence of thought is precisely what we are trying to instill. When students come up with new ideas, not only do we encourage them, but we empower them to pursue their ideas.

ENGenuity: How do Aha! moments fit into the process of innovation?

Greer: Once you start skiing, for example, you suddenly realize the value of warm jackets or good sports equipment. The aha! moment comes from becoming aware of a particular limitation or a need that's currently not being met either because it's very challenging to meet or because no one has ever tried. I think it's a process that leads to aha! moments, and the realization happens when you become aware of a problem.

Hajimiri: There are no single moments of epiphany in innovation. It's a process, a progression, an evolution. Yes, there are inflection points in that process that you can think about as aha! moments. The process of innovation is a messy one. Creativity is messy. If you go to a painter's workshop, it doesn't look very pristine and nice. That element of messiness is critical, but so is the element of discipline. The way it happens is that people usually come up with an idea and say I want to do this. They know the what. They need to discover the how.

Gharib: We go for the pure science part of research. The pre-cursor to the aha! moment is "wow, I just discovered something interesting!" Rarely do we do research for something commercial. And at some moments, we simply improve upon what exists.

Scherer: Most of the time you start building all sorts of experiences and capabilities that lead you to things that are completely serendipitous. You can do things you didn't expect. You come up with this master plan or you're optimizing something for one project, but then all of a sudden, you see something that you didn't expect. Serendipity happens more often than not, it's just that people don't recognize it when they see it because they're too focused on their original ideas. As a good scientist, you need to recognize serendipity when it happens.

Mory Gharib

Mory Gharib (PhD '83), Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering; Booth-Kresa Leadership Chair, Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies; Director, Graduate Aerospace Laboratories; Director, Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies has an extensive history of innovation at Caltech. His field of research focuses on fluid dynamics and aeronautics, but his innovations and commercial ventures range from compact 3D imaging for dental crowns all the way to the development of heart valves and other medical devices. He was named a Chart Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2012.

Julia Greer

Julia Greer, Ruben F. and Donna Mettler Professor of Materials Science, Mechanics and Medical Engineering; Fletcher Jones Foundation Director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute, joined Caltech in 2007. Greer's research involves departments all beginning with "m": materials science, mechanical engineering, and medical engineering. Her work lies at the nexus of additive manufacturing of 3D nano-architected materials, mechanical behavior of materials, energy storage and materials for sustainability, as well as bio-inspired engineering. Along with over 150 scientific publications and serving on the National Materials Manufacturing Board for the National Academies, Greer is an accomplished classical pianist.

Ali Hajimiri

Ali Hajimiri, Bren Professor of Electrical Engineering and Medical Engineering; Co-Director, Space-Based Solar Power Project, joined Caltech in 1998. His research and entrepreneurial endeavors cover a broad range of high-speed and high-frequency electronics and photonics integrated circuits for applications in sensors. Axiom Microdevices Inc., which Hajimiri co-founded, has shipped over 400 million units. Hajimiri has been granted more than 130 U.S. patents and counting and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Axel Scherer

Axel Scherer, Bernard Neches Professor of Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics and Physics; Merkin Institute Professor, joined Caltech in 1993. Scherer holds more than 100 patents in the area of nanofabrication and device design and was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors in 2015. In addition to telecommunications and integrated disease diagnostic devices, Scherer's research group is working on miniaturized continuous glucose monitors in the form of wireless implants for more accurate measurements of body glucose levels.