Shifting Perspective Through Innovation

Brian Bauer’s path to innovation has been anything but linear. He began his undergrad studies focusing on philosophy and preparing for law school. Before enrolling in his law classes, however, he pivoted and instead entered a master’s program in counseling, where he discovered his love for research. After completing his Ph.D. in clinical psychology, he joined the University of Georgia in 2022, where his research focuses on suicide prevention and theory.

Throughout Bauer’s tenure, his work has led him to an unexpected entrepreneurial turn. While developing a prototype for a personalized research dashboard, he connected with the Innovation District for guidance. The idea grew out of a challenge he knew well–staying current in a fast-moving field.

“As academics, we’re constantly trying to keep up with the latest studies, but it’s overwhelming,” Bauer said. “The dashboard is designed to be like a living brain for your research area, something personalized that helps you stay up to date.”

Still in its early stages, the dashboard is showing promising results. Bauer and his team have conducted competitor research analyses and a customer discovery, finding strong alignment between their concept and what scholars are asking for.

Although he had never started a business before, Bauer wasn’t entirely new to innovation. Through a VA competition called Mission Daybreak, he had already secured funding for a project aimed at reducing suicide among Veterans. That experience gave him an appreciation for how entrepreneurial thinking could amplify research impact.

Working with the Innovation District has helped him turn his academic idea into something more concrete.

“What’s been most helpful is having people who can walk you step by step through the process,” Bauer said. “As researchers, we have so many ideas, but not the expertise to know how to turn them into products. Having that kind of guidance makes innovation feel accessible.”

The fellowship also offers a shift in perspective. Instead of thinking only about new research studies, Bauer is now considering what could be commercially viable, scalable, and impactful outside of academia.

“It’s exciting to be surrounded not just by novel research ideas but also by business ideas,” he said. “That switch helps you see the bigger picture.”

As a Faculty Innovation Fellow, Bauer is helping Franklin College build a stronger culture of entrepreneurship. That includes working on a strategic plan to raise awareness of the Innovation District’s resources and encouraging colleagues to think about research as more than papers and publications.

“The barrier is low, the risk is low, and the potential reward is really high,” he said. “You can reach out to the Innovation District, get a Zoom call, and start moving your idea forward. Once people know that, I think they’ll see the value immediately.”

Looking ahead, Bauer hopes to pilot his dashboard with 10 to 20 labs by next summer. From there, he’ll continue refining the tool while supporting colleagues in their own innovation journeys.

“There’s so much creativity in our college,” he said. “The fellowship is about helping people see how far their ideas can go.”