After 17 years working in Unicamp Innovation Agency, where I led the communication and institutional relations areas, I learned that a university's greatest challenge is not only producing cutting-edge science, but making it “translatable” and accessible to the market.
Recently, I had the joy of revisiting this challenge in an innovative context. At the invitation of the Sinova (Technological Innovation Center of UFSC), a Sabiá Agency was responsible for the development of the new UFSC Technology Showcase. This was not my first project of this kind – I had already participated in the online showcase at Unicamp and, by Sabiá, from the shop window of PUC-Rio – but the case of UFSC brought specificities that mark a new paradigm in the sector.
The scaling challenge: 800 patents and the marketing bottleneck
UFSC has a robust portfolio of about 800 active patents. From a management perspective, here lies a chronic problem of TTOs: the cost and time required to create marketing materials (the one-pagers and tech profiles) for hundreds of assets are prohibitive. It would be impossible, in terms of investment, to hire an agency to individually write and design each of these technologies.
The solution: Artificial Intelligence with data security
To guarantee autonomy, speed, and precision, our strategy at Sabiá was to implement the use of Artificial Intelligence. However, since we deal with sensitive assets, security was our top priority.
Unlike the casual use of generative AIs, the project was developed in a paid and closed ChatGPT environment, hired by the university itself. This ensures that the patent and computer program information is not used for the public training of the tool, maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the UFSC Intellectual Property throughout the automation process.
In this controlled environment, we configure three specialized “robots”:
– Copywriter: A GPT designed to write technology profiles (one-page text) for patents based on the patent certificate or original application.
– Classifier: Responsible for organizing technologies into predefined areas of industrial application, facilitating the search for companies.
– Designer: Focused on creating images for marketing materials, store displays, and posts.
Results and autonomy
Sabiá delivered the first ones 100 assets already processed by AI and the university continues to update the showcase daily. More important than the initial delivery, we trained the Sinova team to operate these robots with total independence as new invention disclosures emerge.
The new UFSC showcase goes beyond the exhibition of protected technologies: it gives visibility to laboratories, Embrapii units, and student initiatives, truly connecting the innovation ecosystem of the university ao business sector. I invite everyone to get to know her: https://vitrine.sites.ufsc.br/
For me, this project was a practical exercise in innovation. Seeing AI being applied to breathe new life into those who bridge the gap between science and the market is proof that we are on the right track to scale technology transfer in Brazil.
