I helped invent the smartphone camera. It could have died in the lab

Smartphone cameras often use technology that almost never made it out of the lab. While at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the 1990s, the author helped lead the development of the "camera-on-a-chip" – a semiconductor image sensor that replaced bulky camera components. This technology, called the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, now powers cameras across various products.

The author and Dr. Sabrina Kemeny founded Photobit Corporation to bring the technology to market. After securing an exclusive license through the Bayh-Dole Act, the company refined the sensor and persuaded electronics companies to adopt the new imaging technology. The author has since continued developing new imaging technologies while helping other faculty and PhD students commercialize their inventions.

Successful startups benefit taxpayers and the government through employment, improved health outcomes, and public safety. Larger companies often acquire these startups once the technology and market have been validated, further adding to the economy. However, proposed changes to federal research policy could make the path from early-stage research to commercialization more uncertain.

For example, one agency has proposed revisions that would give the agency a greater role in licensing patented inventions, while another has suggested abandoning the Bayh-Dole framework altogether. These changes could obstruct the process of transforming scientific discoveries into practical technologies, which relies on stable rules and predictable outcomes.

The Bayh-Dole Act has helped align public research, entrepreneurial initiative, and strong intellectual property protections, creating a mutually beneficial system. Policymakers should consider protecting this successful system rather than attempting to fix something that isn't broken.