Jennifer McKinley knows small companies need help to grow their products and services into solutions that change the world. As director of the Florida High Tech Corridor’s Matching Grants Research Program (MGRP at UCF, she accelerates company growth by pairing industry partners with faculty and student subject-matter expertise.
McKinley combines 25 years of entrepreneurial, operations and business development experience with her passion for UCF. The UCF alumna maintained close ties to the university after graduation and later returned to work in the Office of Research. In 2015, the UCF Department of Chemistry honored her as an “Outstanding AlumKnight” for her achievements as co-founder of two optics and photonics startups, including one that was later acquired.
Since joining The Corridor, McKinley has engaged with many programs that support high-tech research and provide entrepreneurial guidance to the UCF community. Along with connecting researchers to businesses looking to partner on sponsored research, McKinley also has extensive experience helping companies navigate technology transfer and Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Tech Transfer (SBIR/STTR) awards.
“I am thrilled I have an opportunity to lead a program that invests in research,” says McKinley. The avid gardener loves growing new things. In Central Florida she is cultivating an ecosystem where business and academia interact seamlessly, and where professors, students and industry partners all reap the benefits of their collaborations.
How would you explain your job to someone who’s never heard of “ecosystem building” before?
Good ideas that change our world don’t turn into products and jobs on their own. We have to talk to people and introduce them to each other and point out where the money and opportunities are.
What advice would you give to people who are new to ecosystem building?
All of the connections in academia, industry, and government are important–a technology-based economy needs to strengthen research capacity, translate research to the marketplace, promote entrepreneurship, increase access to resources, and encourage a technically skilled workforce.
What has been your proudest professional moment since joining The Corridor Team?
It makes me proud every time a faculty member reaches out to say “thank you” and express how impactful and important the MGRP funding was to helping their project. I’m thrilled I have an opportunity to lead a program that invests in research.
If you could have dinner with anyone in our regional innovation ecosystem, who would it be?
I’d like to sit down with every student who got a job as a result of working on an MGRP project with a company. I’d like to know all the details of how learning to work with industry partners early in their careers changed how they think about solving technology challenges.
What resource or resource organization do you wish more entrepreneurs knew about?
I’m a fan of the UCF Business Incubator, since I started two companies there. There are very few facilities available in the region where you can find wet labs necessary for certain types of tech development.
In your role, which questions are you most frequently asked?
- How do companies get connected to expert faculty? The university Program Directors work to help match companies with university researchers to partner on sponsored research. The first step is to identify a faculty member that’s interested in collaborating on the research. From there, you would work together to sketch out a scope of work and a budget – both what your company would contribute and what request you’d put to the Corridor.
- Is my company eligible for Matching Grants? Our grants directly fund the work of expert faculty and create an opportunity for their students to participate in collaborative research with industry partners in the 23-county region. These grants prioritize regional economic development, high-impact student experiences, and projects in strategic research areas for the regions’ industry clusters and for UCF.
- How much are the matching grants? Research teams may request up to $150K per project (per year) to match the industry partner’s investment in the project. In terms of an SBIR, the industry investment is the research subcontract. If awarded, funds are used to expand the project’s scope of work and support student involvement in the project.
What has been the most surprising thing you have learned about our regional innovation ecosystem?
I’m constantly surprised by how “just getting out there” leads to meeting people who turn out to be amazing connections. The people piece of technology-based economic development is just as important as having the right idea to solve an important problem.
Are you an innovator in UCF’s community? Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn.