A New Prescription for University Tech Transfer

If university technology transfer is a patient lying on a gurney on the latest hospital TV drama, the dashing young intern would gaze up at the grizzled M.D. with a confused look on his face to see the venerable doctor shake his head slightly, eyes cast down.

While the life-and-death drama facing the staff at Anywhere General each week may slightly overstate the technology transfer situation at our universities, the critical function of bringing important new technologies from collegiate laboratories to the commercial marketplace is heading for life support. Technologies are slow to market, industry finds the procedures cumbersome and the resulting barriers to economic development are under review by federal agencies and legislators. A Band-Aid approach is not sufficient; aggressive treatment is required. From how professors participate in the process to how universities administer the process to the very process itself, all needs to be addressed over the next several years if we are going to be more successful in transitioning technologies from labs to the market.

By R.F. (Rick) Shangraw Jr. and Augustine Cheng

Full Story: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2011/07/28/shangraw_cheng_essay_prescriptions_for_fixing_ailing_technology_transfer_system