UC Riverside Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Mihri Özkan was selected as a National Invention Ambassador within the National Invention Ambassadors Network in the United States. The appointment, announced by UC Riverside on September 21, 2026, is being carried out as part of a five-year partnership between the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
In her new role, Özkan will mentor students, researchers, academics and entrepreneurs. The position includes expanding intellectual property education, promoting invention through workshops and conferences, and supporting the transfer of research results produced at universities into real-world applications through patents, licensing and entrepreneurship.
The scope of the role has expanded
The NAI and USPTO launched the Invention Ambassador program in October 2024 to promote academic invention and share best practices across the innovation ecosystem. While the program initially focused mainly on showcasing academic inventions and organizing speaking and training activities, the National Invention Ambassadors Network announced in 2026 was designed as a broader national network.
The new network brings together mentoring, intellectual property education, research commercialization and university-industry-government partnerships within a single framework. Özkan's role also includes leading the Bridging Innovation Initiative, which examines universities' innovation capacity and aims to strengthen it, in addition to guiding young inventors.
Özkan's academic work
Özkan works on next-generation batteries, sustainable energy systems, carbon management and technologies that use artificial intelligence to reduce the carbon footprint. Because these fields are directly connected to the energy transition, electric vehicles and climate technologies, moving research from the laboratory stage to patents, licensing and societal benefit is among the role's key areas.
Özkan's institutional recognition in the field of invention was further strengthened by several developments. In 2025, Mihri Özkan and Cengiz Özkan became the first married couple to be selected as NAI Fellows; during the same period, Mihri Özkan's work as an NAI invention ambassador was also recognized. According to her NAI profile, Özkan holds approximately 50 granted U.S. and international patents, has more than 400 peer-reviewed publications and has received over 15,000 citations.
Through her new role, Özkan aims to help scientific discoveries move beyond laboratories and support young people in turning their ideas into innovative products and solutions. The National Invention Ambassadors Network addresses this goal through a broader structure that combines individual mentoring with intellectual property knowledge, technology transfer and efforts to develop universities' entrepreneurial capacity.
