Faculty seminar to address marketing research

INDIANAPOLIS -- A seminar series for faculty inventors and professors with an interest in product research and marketing will be held at IU and IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis beginning Oct. 18, according to a press release.\nThe series, Partners in Invention and Entrepreneurship, is co-sponsored by the IU Advanced Research and Technology Institute and the Indiana Pervasive Computing Research Initiative. The series is made possible by a grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc, the release said.\nThe seminars will be geared to help faculty understand how private businesses evaluate the commercial potential of new product ideas. They will be held at 8 a.m. Oct. 18 in the University Library Auditorium at IUPUI and at 9 a.m. Oct. 19 in the Oak Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nFaculty including nine experts from finance, biotechnology and communication will make presentations, discuss ideas and respond to faculty questions. Ann Eskesen, president of Innovation Development Institute, a business development resource firm based in Swampscott, Md., will lead the discussion.\nEskesen has served on the boards of several technology development organizations and testifies frequently before congressional committees regarding important small business development issues.