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VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

Research finds its place in the real world via the WVU Office of Innovation and Commercialization

By West Virginia University

January 5^th, 2026

For researchers at West Virginia University, the Office of Innovation and Commercialization is where dreams come true.

John Hu can attest to that.

Hu, the director of the WVU Center for Innovation in Gas Research and Utilization and the Statler College Chair in Engineering for Natural Gas Utilization, has devoted years of his life to studying the clean energy potential of natural gas, exploring how one of West Virginia’s most valuable resources can help drive a revolution in sustainability.

Thanks to Hu’s collaboration with the OIC, his research has become reality.

In his lab at the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, Hu and his colleagues figured out how to use microwaves to derive ammonia, hydrogen and carbon nanomaterials from natural gas without producing greenhouse gas emissions.

Then, with the OIC’s help, Hu launched a startup, Viaduct, that is translating their discovery into tangible results with transformative potential for food security.

“Viaduct is advancing the commercialization of shale gas conversion into advanced carbon technologies,” Hu said. “We’re also scaling up processes for synthesizing ammonia, and that is crucial for global fertilizer supplies.

“We’ve been able to do this because of the OIC, which guided the licensing of WVU technologies, helped us set up lab space at the Innovation Corporation and fostered our industry partnerships.”

Once Viaduct launched, the OIC team didn’t walk away, Hu emphasized.

Instead, he said they’ve relentlessly sought out opportunities like the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines program to further investments in early-stage technologies such as Viaduct’s.

OIC Executive Director Erienne Olesh called Hu and Viaduct “a great example of what is possible when we bring together private and public resources to support and foster innovation. The Resilient Energy Technology and Infrastructure Consortium, an NSF Engines Finalist, is aiming to replicate examples like Viaduct, speeding up time to market and the success rate of use-inspired research making it out of the labs and into customer hands.”

John Hu, Statler chair in engineering for natural gas utilization at WVU.

REAPING RETURNS FOR THE STATE AND NATION

Ryan Watson, OIC executive director of intellectual property and licensing, agreed with Olesh that helping launch startups like Viaduct is what the OIC is all about. He pointed to the seed funds Viaduct has raised from a California venture capital firm — money that’s “coming right back to West Virginia,” he said.

“These are state assets,” Watson said, “and the OIC’s role is to secure IP protection while earning a return for the state that made them possible.”

On a broader scale, Watson sees the national potential of the discoveries happening at WVU.

“Whether it’s a new agricultural innovation to enhance crop yields, medical technologies to improve patient outcomes, or applied science applications that enhance energy efficiency and the environment, WVU research strengthens America’s public health, industrial base and national security,” he said.

Olesh also believes WVU research can spark big change.

“The federal government wants to see research translated into real impact,” Olesh said. “When I was in D.C. recently, speaking with senators and representatives from various funding agencies, the focus was clear: Taxpayer investments in research need to benefit the American people.

“Google, Kevlar, insulin, Bluetooth, X-ray technology —the world owes every one of these iconic innovations to academic research labs just like the ones we have here. WVU has always excelled in fundamental research. Now the OIC is strengthening the arm that brings that research to life.”

Ryan Watson and Erienne Olesh help run the WVU Office of Innovation and Commercialization.

GROWING THE LAND-GRANT MISSION

Bringing research to life means making a difference for flesh-and-blood people.

That’s always top of mind for Rakesh Chandran, a WVU Extension specialist in weed science and professor at the WVU Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, whose most recent discovery will soon make its way to farmers across the nation after Chandran worked with the OIC to bring it to market.

Chandran’s focus is weeds – plant species that can threaten agricultural produce and livestock – and how to manage them using innovative methods.

At WVU, he discovered an herbicide mixture that’s now being developed by AMVAC Chemical Corporation.

“The herbicide controls tough broadleaf weeds in pastures and hayfields without hurting the desirable broadleaf legumes they contain,” he explained.

“It’s valuable for farmers who want to maximize productivity while keeping costs low. Ultimately, it helps ensure a safe, abundant food supply.”

Olesh said the OIC was created to give WVU innovators and entrepreneurs like Chandran “a clear front door.”

Prior to the OIC’s formation, she explained, there were three separate offices — the Office of Technology Transfer, the Office of Student and Faculty Innovation, and the Morris L. Hayhurst LaunchLab.

“People across campus told us, ‘We’re innovators, but we never really know where to go for help,’” Olesh said. “Leadership brought us together in July 2024 to create cohesion for WVU innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship.”

Within its first year, the OIC signed the most IP license agreements in WVU history.

“The highest years previously were 2005 and 2015, with seven each,” Watson said. “We exceeded that in our first year with 10 license agreements, most with startup companies.”

Chandran said the OIC’s guidance throughout the licensing process was game-changing.

“The OIC helped me authenticate the relevance of my discovery, navigate the patent application and handle the legal paperwork. Essentially, I handed them the technicalities of licensing — and they handed me a pen to sign off.”

Bringing a product to market is about more than money, he said.

“Commercialization meant I contributed something meaningful to the agricultural community I serve and fulfilled my commitment to President Lincoln’s land-grant university mission.”

WVU Innovation Corporation signage in front of a brick and glass building. Yellow bushes line the sign's base. — The WVU Office of Innovation and Commercialization is housed in the WVU Innovation Corporation building, the former Mylan facility.

FLYING RESEARCH TO THE STARS

For researchers who work with the OIC, the financial incentive is meaningful.

As Watson pointed out, “In industry, companies typically don’t share revenue with their researchers. WVU shares 40%. What that means is that the OIC negotiates agreements of various kinds — sometimes a flat fee, sometimes a percentage of royalties — for the transfer of WVU inventors’ intellectual property assets to the private sector.”

While 40% of the money goes to the researchers, an additional 10% goes to their college, and 10% goes to their department, where it might be used for lab equipment or other investments that benefit students.

That’s just one of the ways WVU students reap rewards from research commercialization.

At the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, for instance, Professor Stephen Valentine, C. Eugene Bennett Chair of Chemistry, was one of the inventors of an add-on device that makes mass spectrometry equipment more versatile and user-friendly. Valentine worked with the OIC to commercialize the device through a startup, Invibragen. The federal grant dollars Invibragen brought to WVU have enabled the purchase of major equipment that chemistry students now use.

And, at the WVU School of Medicine, students worked with Professor Emeritus John Barnett to develop small-molecule drugs to treat bone diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. After Barnett worked with the OIC to license those through his startup, ExesaLibero Pharma, the students had the experience of seeing one of their molecules travel to the International Space Station.

SHAKING HANDS

Watson and Olesh pride themselves on being good partners to industry. While they help many researchers launch their own startups, they also support researchers in licensing their discoveries to other companies. In those cases, WVU offers its business collaborators a different experience than other institutions.

“We want companies to know we’re easy to work with,” Watson said. “Our top priority is getting opportunities in the door.”

Gregory Armel knows that well. A senior scientist working on product development for AMVAC, the company that licensed Chandran’s herbicide, Armel admitted that industry-academia partnerships can often be “fraught with challenges.”

But at the OIC, Armel said he experienced “open dialogue, fair negotiations and an unwavering purpose to bring new technologies to the marketplace. Their drive to support the end user makes them an outstanding partner.”

Smart industry partnerships also mean “teaching researchers to think about their ideal customer,” Olesh said. “Who needs this technology? What’s their pain point? Whether our students stay in academia or go into industry, we want them to solve problems from the customer’s perspective.”

The OIC team does more than patents — they help with copyrights and even trade secrets. Products they’ve licensed range from a forensic science data set to volunteer firefighter training materials developed by the WVU National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium.

“Our message to researchers is, ‘That great idea you present in that paper? Let’s talk about protecting it and trying to monetize it. Because if you don’t do that, it goes in the public domain, and somebody else will make it a product,’” Watson said.

“We want to identify the value. What is the asset? Maybe it’s not protectable intellectual property in the traditional sense, like a patent, but we may still be able to box up that know-how and find someone in our network to take it to the private sector.”

Woman in navy blazer smiles in front of wall with — OIC Executive Director Erienne Olesh

Person in a blue shirt and plaid blazer stands in front of a wall with the word — Ryan Watson, OIC executive director of intellectual property and licensing

CHANGING IT UPWARD

Olesh’s journey to the OIC began with some hard lessons learned when she was a WVU doctoral student in neuroscience.

“We were building early beta versions of commercial software for Microsoft to use, trying to break into the health care space with a great idea that we had at very much the wrong time,” Olesh said. “Our product was for in-home physical therapy for stroke patients — but back then, providers couldn’t do billable hours in somebody’s home. We were too far ahead of our time,” she laughed.

“Still, that experience got me interested in understanding the business side of science. I found an internship with the WVU Office of Technology Transfer, and that’s when I realized how much I love being able to see the research, and the work that people put into it, make that jump to the real world.”

For Watson, a Parkersburg native, it’s about his commitment to the place they call Almost Heaven. His path began in the engineering and manufacturing sector and led him all the way to the U.S. Department of Energy before a growing interest in the roles private equity and venture capital play in innovation drew him to intellectual property law.

“It’s been really fun to make these ideas come to life here in West Virginia,” Watson said. “Bottom line, I love that the technologies we facilitate out the door enhance WVU and the statewide economy.”

Watson’s passion for making change happen right here at home resonates for next-generation innovators, too. Take Zachary Ellis, a graduate student intern from Greenbrier County who helps the OIC evaluate technological discoveries and engage with industry.

As a WVU undergraduate, Ellis immersed himself in the student research experience and graduated with a bachelor’s in biochemistry and a deep expertise in Huntington’s disease. Now, as a WVU MBA student, he said he chose to focus on technology commercialization because it speaks to his “strongest motivations — service and curiosity.

“It always inspires me to see science creating real change in people’s lives,” Ellis said. “Working with the OIC, I’ve watched WVU bridge the gap between the lab and products that improve our health and environment, diversify our state’s economy, strengthen our workforce and keep innovation in West Virginia.”

Footnotes

Story by Zakariah Issah. Photos by Zakariah Issah, Jennifer Shephard, Brian Persinger and Paige Nesbit. Illustrations by Katie Short.

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FootNotes

Story by Zakariah Issah. Photos by Zakariah Issah, Jennifer Shephard, Brian Persinger and Paige Nesbit. Illustrations by Katie Short.

THE PLACE IT BELONGS

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

Research finds its place in the real world via the WVU Office of Innovation and Commercialization

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