Abstract: This talk will informally discuss the difference between an invention and a patent, and how to convert an idea into a patent, with a focus on the process for engineering inventions at a research university. 

Bio: Eric Loth is the Rolls Royce Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia. Loth’s current research focuses on extreme-scale wind turbines, energy-storage systems, multiphase flow, super-hydrophobicity, advanced aerodynamics and hypersonic flow. With his students, he has authored over 180 journal papers, 8 patents, and has led more than $16M in research funding in his career. He is a Fellow of ASME, AIAA, and was named a Yip Visiting Fellow of the Magdalene College at Cambridge University (U.K.). Dr. Loth has given invited talks at several universities (including Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Penn, Princeton), several national labs (including NETL, NREL, NRL, SNL), and several conference and events (including ARPA-E Congressional Showcase, MIT A+B Applied Energy Symposium, International Conference on Applied Energy, and the World Energy Storage Conference). He was the panel chair for NAE Energy Research at IMECE and for NAE Aerospace Research at AIAA Sci Tech. His research has been covered by several media outlets (including American Scientist, CNBC, Daily Mail, LA Times, MIT Technology Review, New Scientist, Popular Science, and USA Today). 

Host: Baoxing Xu