As a surgeon who trains medical students, fellows and residents, Dr. Eugene Chang wanted a training method that allowed students to make mistakes, learn from them, and apply their skills in the operating room without the consequences of potentially harming a patient. This is where a virtual reality program Dr. Chang and his team created – Surgical Steps – steps in. 

Are you looking for your next entrepreneurial adventure? Tech Launch Arizona has announced a new startup formation initiative designed to recruit accomplished entrepreneurs and match them with curated technologies ready for commercialization.

According to the study, the university ranked No. 3 in the nation for its likelihood of producing a unicorn company and No. 5 for producing unicorn founders, placing it ahead of institutions including Stanford, MIT and Yale on those measures.

Building on its land-grant mission, the University of Arizona continues to generate discoveries and inventions across a broad range of disciplines and pursue pathways to move those discoveries into the public sphere. For fiscal year 2026, Tech Launch Arizona reported receiving 372 invention disclosures, the highest number in university history and a nearly 15% increase from the previous year's total.

A chance discovery in a University of Arizona lab at the College of Medicine - Tucson is now the foundation of Hyapeptides, a startup working to improve how one of the most widely used biomolecules performs in skincare and medicine.

Joel Berkson founded a startup to commercialize the innovation he developed through his PhD dissertation work at the U of A. Today, with a greater understanding of its customers and the market need, the company has pivoted and is getting serious attention.