Academic exploration in the field of nanotechnology is often driven by federal and state investment, with the hope that this investment will bear fruit in the marketplace.

The IIN's Small Business Entrepreneur's Evaluation (SBEE) program provides a platform for scientists and engineers to present their newly developed technologies and receive assistance in the development of viable business plans.

Each quarter, faculty members are offered the opportunity to present their marketable technology to an audience of students from the NU Kellogg School of Management, who then may use this as a springboard for writing a complete business plan. The success of the SBEE program, headed by Professors Barry Merkin and Chad Mirkin, is evidence by the formulation of 16 start-up companies since the inception of the IIN..

	Developing the first effective therapeutics and diagnostics for Alzheimer's disease and other memory-related disorders (2000, Mirkin)
	Developing innovative diagnostic tools to identify patients at high risk of colorectal cancer (2007, Backman)
	Developing novel nanoparticles for versatile therapeutics and intracellular assays (2009, Mirkin)
	Rapid prototyping of bioMEMS and polymer MEMS (2001, Liu)
	Enabling the biochemistry of membrane-associated molecules for drug discovery and novel therapeutic applications (2003, Sligar)
	Commercializing Dip-pen Nanolithography and develops products in the life science and electronics industries (2001, Mirkin)
	Supplying single-walled carbon nanotubes with uniform diameter and/or electronic type (2007, Hersam)
	Commercializing technology developed in the fields of scanning near-field ultrasound holography and MOSFET embedded cantilevers (2008, Dravid)
	Developing commercial diagnostic systems that use nanoparticles to detect disease targets ranging from HIV to methicillin-resistant bacteria (2000, Mirkin)
	Utilizing self-assembling amphiphilic molecules to enable tissue regeneration (2005, Stupp)
	Producing point-of-care electronic pathogen detection devices (2003, Meade)
	Supplying materials technology for the printed electronics industry (2005, Marks)
	Improving RNAi efficacy by blocking RNAi inhibitors (2006, Sontheimer)