At Caltech's Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships (OTTCP), we are charged with facilitating and managing the transfer of technologies created by scientists and engineers at Caltech and JPL to the commercial sector, and with establishing and maintaining partnerships in support of joint scientific breakthroughs between Caltech and industry. Our mission is to drive the transfer of scientific and engineering knowledge created by our researchers to maximize societal impact by developing partnerships with industry through the creation of new ventures, collaborations with corporations, and transfer of intellectual property while nurturing an entrepreneurial environment. Our team's activities include: * Protecting and managing intellectual property developed by faculty members, students, researchers, and JPL technologists * Building research and other partnerships between faculty, corporations, foundations, and investors * Guiding researchers through the process of bringing commercially viable research to the marketplace * Stimulating continued research innovation on campus through funding programs and partnerships * Helping corporations and other outside entities establish broad, strategic partnerships with Caltech Since our office was first established in 1995, we have helped foster Caltech's long-standing tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship, guiding researchers through the process of starting more than 130 new companies—at an average rate of eight start-ups per year. Caltech generally receives 120 issued U.S. patents per year, so that we now have approximately 1,800 active U.S. patents in our portfolio. Caltech also continues to expand the number of strategic partnerships it has with corporate entities.