Small Schools’ Big Tech Transfer Dreams and Successes. Montana State University Makes Top 10 List. Congratulations!!!

Call them the littler schools that could.

That’s the theme of a just-released study on technology transfer that looked at the surprising tech transfer results of a number of smaller colleges and universities whose research and development budgets fell far short of the funds expended by tech development superstars such as MIT and Stanford.

The lesson learned, say the study’s authors, is that a good combination of partnerships, incentives, and federal and local funding can help move research into the commercial arena, even when a school’s R&D budget is modest.

Montana State University
Bozeman, Mont.

R&D expenditure: $98.5 million

Montana State developed its technology transfer program in the early 1990s to stop the brain drain of graduates moving out of state. The university essentially built an infrastructure for startup companies with programs like TechLink, which connects local companies to research funding from the Defense Dept., NASA, and other government buyers. Other programs foster entrepreneurship with incubators and accelerators to turn innovations begun at Montana State into local companies and jobs.

By Francesca Di Meglio

Full Story: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/oct2007/bs20071016_313906.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech

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MSU unveils high-tech atrium

By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer

It’s hard to say which was more impressive – seeing scientists’ discoveries of bizarre organisms living in the hot pots of Yellowstone National Park, or seeing their story told in brilliant, beautiful pictures on four larger-than-life screens.

Full Story: http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2007/10/19/news/000msu.txt