It is evident when sitting in on a meeting of the 鈥檚 Technology Commercialization Research Center (LAW 815) that there鈥檚 a reciprocal relationship between clients seeking help from student researchers in order to commercialize a new technology and students who are accumulating critical experience in intellectual property assessment, patent protection, market landscaping and other commercialization matters.
Andrea Madho models a dress from her company, Lab141, that has been produced exactly to her measurements.
Certainly this was the case when the Research Center team met with entrepreneur Andrea Madho and software engineer Philip Manning G鈥�98 in Dineen Hall on Jan. 16 to learn about a semester-long project the students will be conducting on behalf of Madho鈥檚 and Manning鈥檚 start-up fashion technology company, Lab141.
Now in its 25th year, the Research Center allows students from the College of Law and across campus to work on technology commercialization projects with entrepreneurs, companies, universities and research centers from across New York State and to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world technology projects. This Research Center group is led by College of Law Adjunct Professor Dean Bell G鈥�72, a former R&D engineer for 41 years at medical technology firm Welch Allyn who has been awarded nine U.S. patents. Bell describes himself as the 鈥渃oach鈥� of the group of eight. His 鈥渜uarterbacks鈥� for the Lab141 project are Technology Commercialization Law Program (TCLP) senior research associates and聽third-year students Annie Millar and Nick Jacobs, who is a joint J.D./M.B.A student.
Although Madho is a client rather than a teacher, her approach showed that she was eager to share her years of experience in business development, marketing, and strategic and financial consulting with the young researchers. As she told the students, 鈥淎ll my skills in public relations, technology and raising money, I’m now using myself as an entrepreneur.”
The same is true for Madho鈥檚 skills in pitching an idea. At the core of this kick-off session was a deft, 10-slide 鈥減itch deck鈥� that she has been using to describe the idea behind Lab141 to stakeholders. Madho鈥檚 presentation begins with an honest description of her own travails finding clothes, especially designer and professional clothes, to fit her 鈥渟hort, plus-sized, high-waisted body type.鈥�
As Madho explains, 鈥淏oth men and women have problems finding clothes to fit. Even men have told me they are too short, too tall, too big, too lopsided, or their arms too long for off-the-rack clothes.鈥� Because 鈥渞egular鈥� height, as far as women鈥檚 clothing is concerned, is 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 8 inches, most women are considered 鈥渟pecialty size,鈥� with 67聽percent of women deemed plus-sized and 56聽percent either “tall” or “petite”. Today, the ubiquitous dress size code that goes from 0 to 14 is so arbitrary as to be meaningless, observed Madho. 鈥淲e want to have no sizes ever!鈥�
But whereas men at least can get suits and shirts made to measure at a traditional tailor, non-regular-sized women have few options when it comes to the designer and professional clothes market. Lab141鈥檚 solution is to offer advanced, technology-based manufacturing so that designers, retailers and brands can offer ready-to-wear, made-to-measure garments direct to the consumer. As the company鈥檚 tag-line states, Lab141 offers consumers 鈥渓uxury made-to-fit clothes in 48 hours.鈥�
“Rather than create a brand for a certain body type,鈥� says Madho, 鈥渨e chose to tackle made-to-measure clothes from a technological standpoint.” It鈥檚 then that Madho stands up, in order to show鈥攔ather than tell鈥攖he students what she means. She is wearing a wrap dress designed by their alpha customer that fits her perfectly. That鈥檚 because, she explained, it has been measured, mapped and cut to her exact body measurements and fit preferences.
Her dress and a description of how it was fitted can been found on . That site will be where consumers can purchase new designer clothes offered in a made-to-fit format. Madho says Lab141 plans to initially offer one designer piece per week. Because of the fast turnaround, a consumer sends in a slate of specific measurements first and then Lab141 uses those measurements to cut the dress to order, having already received patterns and fabric from the designer at the company鈥檚 黑料不打烊 manufacturing location. After the order is fulfilled, the consumer can buy their purchase from the website.
To buy a bespoke item, Madho says the consumer can measure herself with a good old fashioned tape measure, or use an online measuring app, or purchase Lab141’s proprietary Fiteema system, a wearable measuring garment that Lab141 also will sell on its website. The brainchild of Manning, a former software engineer for Procter & Gamble, Fiteema uses embedded technology to measure many parts of the body useful for fitting clothes, such as neckline, waist position, slope of the shoulder, curve of the back and so on. 鈥淔itting and cutting clothes is all about Bezier curves and mapping the body,鈥� Madho observes. 鈥淭here’s a lot of math and science involved in ‘redimensioning’ clothes to fit a body exactly.”
Lab141鈥檚 technological approach to clothes manufacturing offers many advantages for designers who partner with Madho and Manning. They include access to a lucrative market of consumers of all body types, a more transparent supply chain, reduced inventory and digital, analytical reports about fit and preference that can be shared with designers. All in all, explains Madho, Lab141 offers a better way for clothes designers to make money from an untapped market in an industry in which margins are small.
For their part, this cohort of LAW 815 students will perform several important business startup tasks for Lab141 as it continues to assess its chances of success in a competitive market. 鈥淲e will offer a patent landscape, competitor analysis, market landscape and trademark review,鈥澛爏ays聽Millar. 鈥淭he last one will be interesting because there’s been a number of design trademark issues in the clothing industry in the last year.鈥�
鈥淲orking with clients such as Madho and Manning provides the TCLP students with a unique and exceptional experiential learning opportunity,鈥� notes Bell. 鈥淭his research experience and knowledge of entrepreneurship and tech commercialization often translates into successful careers. The clients benefit from unbiased, independent, thorough research and assessment of an emerging invention by very talented, multidiscipline students.鈥�
Lab141 joins a long list of clients who have benefited from the industriousness and skill of Research Center students in the last 25 years. That list includes projects on behalf of medical device, green building and biotechnology companies and emerging technologies as varied as microelectromechanical systems, silicon membranes, smart windows and the handling of metadata. In fact, TCLP鈥攚hich in addition to the Research Center also directs the NYSTAR-designated 鈥攈as expanded its services over the last five years to keep pace with the growth of tech startups in the state.
About 黑料不打烊
Founded聽in 1870, 黑料不打烊 is a private international research university聽dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching聽excellence,聽rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11聽academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence聽in the liberal arts, sciences and聽professional disciplines that prepares聽students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly聽changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main聽campus and聽extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three聽continents. 黑料不打烊鈥檚 student body is among the most diverse for an聽institution of its聽kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent聽all 50 states and more than 100 countries. 黑料不打烊 also has a long legacy of聽supporting veterans and is home to聽the nationally recognized Institute for聽Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the聽U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their聽families.
