I consider my research contributions to have been focused on the advancement of scientific knowledge. In the past, academia often used the scientific process to achieve milestones that are generally laid out in terms of knowledge acquisition. These benchmarks are not what I would consider to have real world applications, in spite of how they are often presented on paper. Occasionally, such projects develop real world applications, but they all serve the same general tenant: Knowledge for knowledge's sake. While a noble pursuit, such an amorphous metric is unappealing to me.I am driven by an innate intellectual curiosity, to be sure, however, I am also very goal oriented. Having measurable outcomes is important for assessing the impact of decisions made and executed. Meeting the needs of a customer (e.g. commercial, healthcare, or business) has the potential to make a broader impact on the whole. Further, progress in this regard is directly measurable in terms of sales, revenue, etc. Contribution of these products to the pursuit of knowledge can be quite profound as well; ergo, development/genesis of a product has the highest intrinsic value.Presently, there is an exciting push toward academic to commercial translation. There are two avenues a researcher can contribute: innovation and invention. An innovator improves an existing product to better serve a market need while an invention is created to address either a new problem or an old problem in a new way. Thus, an inventor is also an innovator; however, an innovator is not necessarily an inventor. In spite of this difference, the goal remains the same: to improve the industry and advance scientific capabilities. Partnerships are crucial for effective translation of research. This is the process I am proud to be a part of. My skillset and creativity are ideal for the palpable, current efforts to grow this field of advancing science from the bottom up in a very meaningful way.