Government and University TechTransfer

Since Michael Crow took the reins as president of Arizona State University, he has touted the benefits of university technology transfer. Now he has an organization that can put those benefits into effect. By: Adam…

"The infusion of so much scientific and engineering activity should help any community weather the current economic crisis and be positioned for the next boom. The challenge for public policy makers and local tech-based economic development programs would be to minimize the export of so much opportunity."

"The clash between academia and corporate giants led by Pfizer Inc. is a concept versus application conundrum: Should schools get a share of the riches if they make a fundamental discovery, secure a patent but don’t set down a clear path to developing a commercial product?"

"This is why it is vital that community and elected leadership rally around funding for higher education and other major R&D institutions. Technology-led growth is, at a fundamental level, a numbers game. The greater amount of funds that support research, either basic or applied, the greater number of useful inventions, and ultimately the higher the commercial potential of the region."

"Technology transfer, the process by which university research is turned into viable businesses and products, has become a hot topic in Arizona as Gov. Janet Napolitano and high-tech businesses seek ways to boost the economy."

Hansen said his office has been working for months with Colorado’s universities, venture capital investors, entrepreneurs and scientists to take ideas and turn them into businesses – what’s known as technology transfer.

His strategy involves attracting venture capitalists and top-tier managers and researchers, as well as lawyers, accountants and others with entrepreneurial expertise, to North Florida. Several aspects of that strategy are beginning to take root — most notably the arrival of three venture capital companies: North Carolina-based Eno River Capital, Inflexion Fund and Academy Funds.

The UC Discovery Grant program, a cooperative research program of the state of California, the University of California (UC) System, and industry has grown from a $3 million initial investment in 1996 to a source…

"INEEL officials credit much of that success to the site’s evolving technology transfer program. Rankin said teams of managers, inventors and attorneys, operating like a business, assess research projects to make sure they are marketable."

"He said BYU did not make similar deals relating to Simmons’ discovery in 1991, a time when such considerations were more rare. In retrospect, though, the school missed out on what would have been a fortune in potential royalties."