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The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (pronounced / v iː s / "veese") is a cross-disciplinary research institute at Harvard University focused on bridging the gap between academia and industry ( translational medicine ) by drawing inspiration from nature's design principles to solve challenges in health care and the environment. It is focused on the field of biologically inspired engineering to be distinct from bioengineering and biomedical engineering . The institute also has a focus on applications, intellectual property generation, and commercialization.

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66-541: Wyss Institute may refer to: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering , at Harvard University in the United States Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering , in Switzerland See also [ edit ] Hansjörg Wyss Wyss Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

132-565: A $ 125 million gift from Hansjörg Wyss . Ingber became the founding director of the Wyss Institute and David Mooney became a founding Core Faculty member, along with Professors Joanna Aizenberg , David A. Edwards , Kit Parker , George M. Whitesides , George Church , Ary Goldberger , William Shih, Robert Wood , James J. Collins , L. Mahadevan , Radhika Nagpal , and Pamela Silver . In 2013, Hansjörg Wyss gave another $ 125 million to Harvard University, doubling his initial gift. The funding

198-664: A Stanford's research park became a veritable startup avalanche... Thus, over the course of just 20 years, a mere eight of Shockley's former employees gave forth 65 new enterprises, which then went on to do the same... Startup advocates are also trying to build a community of tech startups in New York City with organizations like NY Tech Meet Up and Built in NYC. In the early 2000s, the patent assets of failed startup companies were being purchased by people known as patent trolls , who assert those patents against companies that might be infringing

264-507: A balanced "risk/reward" profile (in which high risk due to the untested, disruptive innovations is balanced out by high potential returns) and "scalability" (the likelihood that a startup can expand its operations by serving more markets or more customers). Attractive startups generally have lower " bootstrapping " (self-funding of startups by the founders) costs, higher risk, and higher potential return on investment . Successful startups are typically more scalable than an established business, in

330-423: A business partner) in a market with a dominant design (a clear standard is applied in this market). In contrast to this, profile is the originator which has a management style that is highly entrepreneurial and in which a radical invention or a disruptive innovation (totally new standard) is being developed. This profile is set out to be more successful (in finding a business partner) in a market that does not have

396-465: A coherent set of normative ideas and propositions to design and construct the company's backbone. For example, one of the initial design principles is affordable loss. Because of the lack of information, high uncertainty, and the need to make decisions quickly, founders usually use many heuristics and exhibit biases in their leadership decisions. Entrepreneurs often become overconfident about their startups and their influence on an outcome (case of

462-424: A company's value is based on its technology, it is often equally important for the business owners to obtain intellectual property protection for their idea. The newsmagazine The Economist estimated that up to 75% of the value of US public companies is now based on their intellectual property (up from 40% in 1980). Often, 100% of a small startup company's value is based on its intellectual property. As such, it

528-441: A dominant design (established standard). New startups should align themselves to one of the profiles when commercializing an invention to be able to find and be attractive to a business partner. By finding a business partner, a startup has greater chances of success. Startups usually need many different partners to realize their business idea. The commercialization process is often a bumpy road with iterations and new insights during

594-456: A dysfunctional founding team, a poor business plan, or just a flawed product-market fit as examples of the primary sources of failure. The lack of human and financial resources or even dedicated patent attorneys in the early stages of a startup makes it difficult to compete with larger companies, and likewise increases the time and reduces the probability of patent applications. Failed entrepreneurs, or restarters, who after some time restart in

660-472: A faculty working group to envision the future of bioengineering. The group was called the Harvard Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (HIBIE), with the committee focused on synthetic biology, living materials, and biological control. HIBIE was co-chaired by Harvard professors Donald E. Ingber and David J. Mooney . In January 2009, institute was reformed into the Wyss Institute upon receiving

726-772: A form of online investing that has been legalized in several nations, startups did not advertise themselves to the general public as investment opportunities until and unless they first obtained approval from regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) that typically involved a listing of the startup's securities on a stock exchange . Today, there are many alternative forms of IPO commonly employed by startups and startup promoters that do not include an exchange listing, so they may avoid certain regulatory compliance obligations, including mandatory periodic disclosures of financial information and factual discussion of business conditions by management that investors and potential investors routinely receive from registered public companies. Over

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792-489: A huge speed before running out of resources. Proactive actions (experimentation, searching, etc.) enhance a founder's learning to start a company. To learn effectively, founders often formulate falsifiable hypotheses , build a minimum viable product (MVP), and conduct A/B testing . With the key learnings from market validation, design thinking, and lean startup, founders can design a business model. However it's important not to dive into business models too early before there

858-513: A lack of financing or investor interest. These common mistakes and missteps that happen early in the startup journey can result in failure, but there are precautions entrepreneurs can take to help mitigate risk. For example, startup studios offer a buffer against many of the obstacles that solo entrepreneurs face, such as funding and insufficient team structure, making them a good resource for startups in their earliest phases. Another large study of 160.000 failed companies, identified key factors such as

924-524: A long period of time; hence, sustaining effort is required. Over the long term, sustaining effort is especially challenging because of the high failure rates and uncertain outcomes. Having a business plan in place outlines what to do and how to plan and achieve an idea in the future. Typically, these plans outline the first three to five years of your business strategy. Models behind startups presenting as ventures are usually associated with design science . Design science uses design principles considered to be

990-403: A lower cost. It is based on the idea that entrepreneurs can make their implicit assumptions about how their venture works explicit and empirically testing it. The empirical test is to de/validate these assumptions and to get an engaged understanding of the business model of the new ventures, and in doing so, the new ventures are created iteratively in a build–measure–learn loop. Hence, lean startup

1056-431: A minority of them do go on to become successful and influential, such as unicorns . Startups typically begin by a founder (solo-founder) or co-founders who have a way to solve a problem. The founder of a startup will do the market validation by problem interview, solution interview, and building a minimum viable product (MVP), i.e. a prototype , to develop and validate their business models. The startup process can take

1122-463: A number of ways, including surveys, cold calling, email responses, word of mouth or through sample research. Design thinking is used to understand the customers' need in an engaged manner. Design thinking and customer development can be biased because they do not remove the risk of bias because the same biases manifest in the sources of information, the type of information sought, and the interpretation of that information. Encouraging people to consider

1188-500: A part of the Advanced Technology Team organized around six technology platforms and two cross-platform initiatives across the fields of adaptive material technologies, bioinspired soft robotics, biomimetic microsystems, immuno-materials, living cellular devices, molecular robotics, synthetic biology, and 3D organ engineering. The Wyss Institute has been responsible for a number of scientific developments and spinoffs. During

1254-430: A percentage of monthly revenue. Venture capital firms and angel investors may help startup companies begin operations, exchanging seed money for an equity stake in the firm. Venture capitalists and angel investors provide financing to a range of startups (a portfolio), with the expectation that a very small number of the startups will become viable and make money. In practice though, many startups are initially funded by

1320-434: A powerful team: the product person (e.g. an engineer), a marketing person (for market research , customer interaction, vision) and a finance or operation's person (to handle operations or raise funds). The founder that is responsible for the overall strategy of the startup plays the role of founder-CEOs, much like CEOs in established firms. Startup studios provide an opportunity for founders and team members to grow along with

1386-785: A sample of 101 unsuccessful startups, companies reported that experiencing one or more of five common factors were the reason for failure; the lack of consumer interest in the product or service (42% of failures), funding or cash problems (29%), personnel or staffing problems (23%), competition from rival companies (19%) and problems with pricing of the product or service (18%). In cases of funding problems, it can leave employees without paychecks. Sometimes, these companies are purchased by other companies if they are deemed to be viable, but oftentimes, they leave employees with very little recourse to recoup lost income for worked time. More than one-third of founders believe that running out of money led to failure. Second to that, founders attribute their failure to

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1452-471: A startup, there are different types of stages in which the investor can participate. The first round is called seed round . The seed round generally is when the startup is still in the very early phase of execution when their product is still in the prototype phase. There is likely no performance data or positive financials as of yet. Therefore, investors rely on strength of the idea and the team in place. At this level, family friends and angel investors will be

1518-416: Is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model . While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to go public , startups are new businesses that intend to grow large beyond the solo-founder. During the beginning, startups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but

1584-472: Is a set of principles for entrepreneurial learning and business model design. More precisely, it is a set of design principles aimed for iteratively experiential learning under uncertainty in an engaged empirical manner. Typically, a lean startup focuses on a few lean principles: A key principle of startup is to validate the market need before providing a customer-centric product or service to avoid business ideas with weak demand. Market validation can be done in

1650-724: Is considered to be a "strong" startup ecosystem. One of the most famous startup ecosystems is Silicon Valley in California, where major computer and internet firms and top universities such as Stanford University create a stimulating startup environment. Boston (where Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located) and Berlin , home of WISTA (a top research area), also have numerous creative industries , leading entrepreneurs and startup firms. Basically, attempts are being made worldwide, for example in Israel with its Silicon Wadi , in France with

1716-478: Is effective in increasing the entrepreneurial attitudes and perceived behavioral control, helping people and their businesses grow. Most of startup training falls into the mode of experiential learning, in which students are exposed to a large extent to a real-life entrepreneurship context as new venture teams. An example of group-based experiential startup training is the Lean LaunchPad initiative that applies

1782-416: Is important for technology-oriented startup companies to develop a sound strategy for protecting their intellectual capital as early as possible. Startup companies, particularly those associated with new technology, sometimes produce huge returns to their creators and investors—a recent example of such is Google, whose creators became billionaires through their stock ownership and options. When investing in

1848-513: Is located in Boston's Longwood Medical Area and has 375 full-time staff. The Wyss is organized around eight focus areas, each of which integrate faculty, postdocs, fellows, and staff scientists. The focus areas are bioinspired therapeutics & diagnostics, diagnostics accelerator, immuno-materials, living cellular devices, molecular robotics, 3D organ engineering, predictive bioanalytics and synthetic biology. In 2005, Harvard University established

1914-429: Is sufficient learning on market validation. Paul Graham said: "What I tell founders is not to sweat the business model too much at first. The most important task at first is to build something people want. If you don't do that, it won't matter how clever your business model is." Founders or co-founders are people involved in the initial launch of startup companies. Three people are mainly required as co-founders to create

1980-618: The COVID-19 pandemic , the Wyss Institute was engaged in several notable efforts. This included the development of a diagnostic face mask that can detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the wearer's breath, and the application of the eRapid technology to detect the nucleic acids of the genome of SARS-CoV-2. The technology would be licensed by Antisoma Therapeutics as a point-of-care diagnostic test for COVID-19. The identification of undocumented nucleic acid contamination during routine experiments, which inadvertently caused false positives for COVID-19, led to

2046-746: The Great Depression , which was blamed in part on a rise in speculative investments in unregulated small companies, startup investing was primarily a word of mouth activity reserved for the friends and family of a startup's co-founders, business angels, and Venture Capital funds. In the United States, this has been the case ever since the implementation of the Securities Act of 1933 . Many nations implemented similar legislation to prohibit general solicitation and general advertising of unregistered securities, including shares offered by startup companies. In 2005,

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2112-682: The Inovallée or in Italy in Trieste with the AREA Science Park , to network basic research, universities and technology parks in order to create a startup-friendly ecosystem. Although there are startups created in all types of businesses, and all over the world, some locations and business sectors are particularly associated with startup companies. The internet bubble of the late 1990s was associated with huge numbers of internet startup companies, some selling

2178-496: The self-efficacy of nascent entrepreneurs. Mentoring offers direction for entrepreneurs to enhance their knowledge of how to sustain their assets relating to their status and identity and strengthen their real-time skills. There are many principles in creating a startup. Some of the principles needed are listed below: Lean startup is a clear set of principles to create and design startups under limited resources and tremendous uncertainty to build their ventures more flexibly and at

2244-462: The 2010s wore hoodies , sneakers and other casual clothes to business meetings. Their offices may have recreational facilities in them, such as pool tables, ping pong tables, football tables and pinball machines , which are used to create a fun work environment, stimulate team development and team spirit, and encourage creativity. Some of the casual approaches, such as the use of "flat" organizational structures, in which regular employees can talk with

2310-508: The Internet. Startups can receive funding via more involved stakeholders, such as startup studios. Startup studios provide funding to support the business through a successful launch, but they also provide extensive operational support, such as HR, finance and accounting, marketing, and product development, to increase the probability of success and propel growth. Startup are funded through preset rounds, depending on their funding requirement and

2376-413: The Wyss Institute. The $ 12 million funding supports research related to RNA therapies, genome engineering, and new drug delivery methods. Within its first ten years, the institute also spun out 29 startup companies to commercialize Wyss Institute developments. The institute was originally founded with fourteen faculty from Harvard University . The institute had around 40 scientists and engineers as

2442-467: The business or enterprise of an issuer; However, not every promoter is a co-founder. In fact, there is no formal, legal definition of what makes somebody a co-founder. The right to call oneself a co-founder can be established through an agreement with one's fellow co-founders or with permission of the board of directors, investors, or shareholders of a startup company. When there is no definitive agreement (like shareholders' agreement ), disputes about who

2508-537: The business they help to build. In order to create forward momentum, founders must ensure that they provide opportunities for their team members to grow and evolve within the company. The language of securities regulation in the United States considers co-founders to be promoters under Regulation D . The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission definition of promoter includes: (i) Any person who, acting alone or in conjunction with one or more other persons, directly or indirectly takes initiative in founding and organizing

2574-422: The casual dress and playful office environment fool you. New enterprises operate under do-or-die conditions. If you do not roll out a useable product or service in a timely fashion, the company will fail. Bye-bye paycheck, hello eviction. Iman Jalali, chief of staff at ContextMedia Entrepreneurs often feel stressed. They have internal and external pressures. Internally, they need to meet deadlines to develop

2640-521: The co-founders are, can arise. Self-efficacy refers to the confidence an individual has to create a new business or startup. It has a strong relation with startup actions. Entrepreneurs' sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how they approach goals, tasks, and challenges. Entrepreneurs with high self-efficacy—that is, those who believe they can perform well—are more likely to view difficult tasks as something to be mastered rather than something to be avoided. Startups are pressure cookers. Don't let

2706-499: The company's namesake and founder, Nobel laureate and co-inventor of the transistor William Shockley ... (His employees) formed Fairchild Semiconductor immediately following their departure... After several years, Fairchild gained its footing, becoming a formidable presence in this sector. Its founders began leaving to start companies based on their own latest ideas and were followed on this path by their own former leading employees... The process gained momentum and what had once begun in

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2772-402: The courses and encourage them to make them into real startups should they wish to do so. Such mock-up startups, however, may not be enough to accurately simulate real-world startup practice if the challenges typically faced by startups (e.g. lack of funding to keep operating) are not present in the course setting. To date, much of the entrepreneurship training is yet to be personalized to match

2838-498: The development of new safety protocols to protect researchers and ensure data integrity. New nasal swabs that could be manufactured quickly and more easily which launched the startup Rhinostics. Use of computational approaches and organ-chips to repurpose FDA-approved drugs like Amodiaquine to prevent or treat COVID-19. 42°22′52″N 71°06′59″W  /  42.38122°N 71.11626°W  / 42.38122; -71.11626 Startup company A startup or start-up

2904-591: The founders and chief executive officers informally, are done to promote efficiency in the workplace, which is needed to get their business off the ground. In a 1960 study, Douglas McGregor stressed that punishments and rewards for uniformity in the workplace are not necessary because some people are born with the motivation to work without incentives. Some startups do not use a strict command and control hierarchical structure, with executives, managers, supervisors and employees. Some startups offer employees incentives such as stock options , to increase their "buy in" from

2970-491: The founders may close or exit the startups. Sustaining effort is required as the startup process can take a long period of time, by one estimate, three years or longer. Sustaining effort over the long term is especially challenging because of the high failure rates and uncertain outcomes. Some startup founders have a more casual or offbeat attitude in their dress, office space and marketing , as compared to executives in established corporations. For example, startup founders in

3036-452: The founders themselves using "bootstrapping", in which loans or monetary gifts from friends and family are combined with savings and credit card debt to finance the venture. Factoring is another option, though it is not unique to startups. Other funding opportunities include various forms of crowdfunding , for example equity crowdfunding, in which the startup seeks funding from a large number of individuals, typically by pitching their idea on

3102-492: The illusion of control ). Below are some of the most critical decision biases of entrepreneurs to start up a new business. Startups use several action principles to generate evidence as quickly as possible to reduce the downside effect of decision biases such as an escalation of commitment, overconfidence, and the illusion of control. Many entrepreneurs seek feedback from mentors in creating their startups. Mentors guide founders and impart entrepreneurial skills and may increase

3168-519: The last decade, Europe has developed a rapid start-up scene that has given birth to global players, including more than 70 unicorns, and has created more than two million jobs. Investment in European start-ups increased sixfold between 2010 and 2020, reaching approximately €40 billion. Europe does a poorer job of nurturing young companies because of a failure to support their development into industry leaders. Promising European start-ups then struggle to raise

3234-451: The long run. Venture capital is the money of invention that is invested into young businesses which hold no historic background. Usually, the business of venture capital is highly risky but one can at the same time expect high returns as well. In the United States, the solicitation of funds became easier for startups as result of the JOBS Act . Prior to the advent of equity crowdfunding ,

3300-434: The market situation. In their 2013 study, Kask and Linton develop two ideal profiles, or also known as configurations or archetypes, for startups that are commercializing inventions. The inheritor profile calls for a management style that is not too entrepreneurial (more conservative) and the startup should have an incremental invention (building on a previous standard). This profile is set out to be more successful (in finding

3366-507: The necessary capital to expand and mature. They are forced to either relocate to the US's deep capital markets or sell themselves to larger rivals with more financial availability. As a result, start-ups in the United States can typically raise far more money—up to five times as much as in Europe. Investors are generally most attracted to those new companies distinguished by their strong co-founding team,

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3432-840: The ones participating. At this stage the level of risk and payoff are at their greatest. The next round is called Series A . At this point the company already has traction and may be making revenue. In Series A rounds venture capital firms will be participating alongside angels or super angel investors. The next rounds are Series B , C, and D. These three rounds are the ones leading towards the Initial Public Offering ( IPO ). Venture capital firms and private equity firms will be participating. Series B: Companies are generating consistent revenue but must scale to meet growing demand. Series C & D: Companies with strong financial performance looking to expand to new markets, develop new products, make an acquisition, and/or preparing for IPO. After

3498-1024: The opposite of whatever decision they are about to make tends to reduce biases such as overconfidence, the hindsight bias , and anchoring. In startups, many decisions are made under uncertainty, and hence a key principle for startups is to be agile and flexible. Founders can embed options to design startups in flexible manners, so that the startups can change easily in future. Uncertainty can vary within-person (I feel more uncertain this year than last year) and between-person (he feels more uncertain than she does). A study found that when entrepreneurs feel more uncertain, they identify more opportunities (within-person difference), but entrepreneurs who perceive more uncertainties than others do not identify more opportunities than others do (no between-person difference). Startups may form partnerships with other firms to enable their business model to operate. To become attractive to other businesses, startups need to align their internal features, such as management style and products with

3564-761: The participants and the training. The size and maturity of the startup ecosystem is where a startup is launched and where it grows to have an effect on the volume and success of the startups. The startup ecosystem consists of the individuals (entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors , mentors, advisors); institutions and organizations (top research universities and institutes, business schools and entrepreneurship programs and centres operated by universities and colleges, non-profit entrepreneurship support organizations, government entrepreneurship programs and services, Chambers of commerce ) business incubators and business accelerators and top-performing entrepreneurial firms and startups. A region with all of these elements

3630-594: The principles of customer development and Lean Startup to technology-based startup projects. As startups are typically thought to operate under a notable lack of resources, have little or no operating history, and to consist of individuals with little practical experience, it is possible to simulate startups in a classroom setting with reasonable accuracy. In fact, it is not uncommon for students to actually participate in real startups during and after their studies. Similarly, university courses teaching software startup themes often have students found mock-up startups during

3696-403: The process. Hasche and Linton argue that startups can learn from their relationships with other firms, and even if the relationship ends, the startup will have gained valuable knowledge about how it should move on going forward. When a relationship is failing for a startup it needs to make changes. Three types of changes can be identified according to Hasche and Linton: Startups need to learn at

3762-404: The prototypes and get the product or service ready for market. Externally they are expected to meet milestones of investors and other stakeholders to ensure continued resources from them on the startups. Coping with stress is critical to entrepreneurs because of the stressful nature of starting up a new firm under uncertainty. Coping with stress unsuccessfully could lead to emotional exhaustion, and

3828-561: The same sector with more or less the same activities, have an increased chance of becoming a better entrepreneur. However, some studies indicate that restarters are more heavily discouraged in Europe than in the US. Many institutions and universities provide training on startups. In the context of universities, some of the courses are entrepreneurship courses that also deal with the topic of startups, while other courses are specifically dedicated to startups. Startup courses are found both in traditional economic or business disciplines as well as

3894-493: The sense that the startup has the potential to grow rapidly with a limited investment of capital, labor or land. Timing has often been the single most important factor for biggest startup successes, while at the same time it's identified to be one of the hardest things to master by many serial entrepreneurs and investors. Startups have several options for funding. Revenue-based financing lenders can help startup companies by providing non-dilutive growth capital in exchange for

3960-428: The side of information technology disciplines. As startups are often focused on software, they are also occasionally taught while focusing on software development alongside the business aspects of a startup. Founders go through a lot to set up a startup. A startup requires patience and resilience, and training programs need to have both the business components and the psychological components. Entrepreneurship education

4026-402: The stage of growth of the company. Startup investing is generally divided into six stage, namely While some (would-be) entrepreneurs believe that they can't start a company without funding from VC, Angel, etc. that is not the case. In fact, many entrepreneurs have founded successful businesses for almost no capital, including the founders of MailChimp , Shopify , and ShutterStock . If

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4092-515: The start up (as these employees stand to gain if the company does well). This removal of stressors allows the workers and researchers in the startup to focus less on the work environment around them, and more on achieving the task at hand, giving them the potential to achieve something great for both themselves and their company. The failure rate of startup companies is very high. A 2014 article in Fortune estimated that 90% of startups ultimately fail. In

4158-466: The technology covered by the patents. Startup investing is the action of making an investment in an early-stage company. Beyond founders' own contributions, some startups raise additional investment at some or several stages of their growth. Not all startups trying to raise investments are successful in their fundraising. Venture Capital is a subdivision of Private Equity wherein external investors fund small-scale startups that have high growth potential in

4224-522: The technology to provide internet access, others using the internet to provide services. Most of this startup activity was located in the most well-known startup ecosystem - Silicon Valley , an area of northern California renowned for the high level of startup company activity: The spark that set off the explosive boom of "Silicon startups" in Stanford Industrial Park was a personal dispute in 1957 between employees of Shockley Semiconductor and

4290-518: The title Wyss Institute . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wyss_Institute&oldid=1017779985 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering The Wyss Institute

4356-509: Was used to further the institute's interdisciplinary research, which includes DNA engineering, cleaning toxins from blood, vibrating insoles to help older adults maintain balance, and a melanoma cancer vaccine. In 2019, Hansjörg Wyss donated a third gift of $ 131 million to the Wyss Institute. In 2020, the Wyss Institute and Northpond Ventures, a Maryland-based venture capital firm, created the Laboratory for Bioengineering Research and Innovation at

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