Craig B. Arnold is the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Vice Dean for Innovation, and Princeton’s first University Innovation Officer. I invited him to reflect on his fascinating personal journey and how it dovetails with the University’s accelerating efforts at supporting innovation on campus and across our region. — C.L.E.
The idea of turning scientific research into a useful technology, or a profitable company, was never my goal when I started my academic career at Princeton 22 years ago.
As a junior professor of mechanical engineering, I was frankly afraid of the notion of “commercialization.” I worried that my colleagues would think I wasn’t a serious scholar, or that pursuing real-world applications would be a distraction that could negatively affect my career trajectory. I shied away from patents and spinouts, instead encouraging my students and collaborators to take their ideas and run with them as best they could.
That changed in 2005, when I invented and patented a new type of optical device. After conversations with potential external partners, it became clear that the technology was too complex to simply hand off to someone else. If I wanted this idea to see the light of day, I would need to be personally involved in helping translate it from a laboratory research project into a commercial product. Still, I waited until I felt secure enough in my academic career. Only after I was promoted to associate professor did I co-found with Christian Theriault ’07 *08 the company TAG Optics, which was later acquired by a major precision instrument manufacturer.
Almost two decades later, with multiple start-ups and 17 patents under my belt, I became Princeton’s inaugural University Innovation Officer in 2024, charged with establishing and leading the new Office of Innovation. As I reflect on that journey, I am struck by how much both Princeton and our faculty have changed regarding how academic researchers view commercialization and how the University supports them.
Twenty years ago, faculty with entrepreneurial experience were hard to find. Today, more professors realize that co-founding a company or licensing their technology can bring substantial benefits to their academic research, teaching skills and overall impact, and that their personal involvement in these activities often makes the difference between success and failure for the budding enterprise. In the early days of TAG Optics, Christian and I found an unused dental office for rent on Harrison Street and converted it into a manufacturing facility. Today, thanks to the kind of support offered through the Office of Innovation, Princeton helps its faculty find top-quality incubator space at Princeton Innovation Center BioLabs or other partner facilities and accelerators in the region.
The Office of Innovation does much more. We develop programming for faculty that connects them with our network of angel investors, venture capital firms, mentors, executives in residence and even their own peers. We run forums and workshops and manage federal and state grant programs, such as the NSF I-Corps training program, which helps prepare academics for starting companies.
One of the most exciting developments in recent years is that these types of translational activities are happening across the campus, not just in engineering and the natural sciences. We see an increasing number of faculty in the social sciences and humanities participating in ventures that enrich and improve lives around the world.
Innovation and entrepreneurship are integral parts of today’s academic environment, and any world-class research university has to offer infrastructure and encouragement to attract and retain the best scholars in the world. The goal of the Office of Innovation is to become as excellent in supporting innovation as Princeton is in teaching and fundamental research.
We’re looking for sustained impact by cultivating an ecosystem that continues to grow with and support the community over time.
We’re just getting started! I invite alumni to learn more about the Office of Innovation at innovation.princeton.edu.