Decisions at the Borders: A Career in Academic Physics, Renewable Energy, Patents, Startups, and Eye Surgery
Prof. Gergely Zimanyi
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of California, Davis
The talk reviews my career path that started in academic physics, researching high Tc superconductors. After 15 years, I developed a parallel career in patent law, where I got a much closer connection with, and appreciation of how inventive ideas get adapted and applied into impactful products. This motivated me to also reorient my academic research towards renewable energy challenges, and to set this up in such a way that real world impact was at least a possibility.
1. In academia, I adapted the methods of basic science to analyze the degradation of solar cells. In parallel, I formed a collaboration with Toyota to develop stronger permanent magnets for the electric motors in their hybrid and electric cars.
2. In patent law, after a foundational period, I became the director of intellectual property for a string of eye-surgical startup companies. The inventions of each of these companies helped to restore or to improve the vision of hundreds of thousands of patients. Since then, I also worked with a heart surgery startup and presently we are setting up a prostate cancer screening company. The success of all these adventures was grounded in the physicist mindset.
Hosted by Prof. Forro