Innovation Asset Blog

Technology transfer climbing university priority lists

While politicians, financiers and social commentators have been preaching the importance of refueling the nation's innovation engines, university research teams have been turning principles into practice. According to MedCity News, the technology transfer forecast is now looking particularly robust in the academic community.

Educators around the country now seem poised to confront lingering ivory tower stereotypes, according to University of North Carolina business professor Don Rose, and are more focused on pragmatic pursuits.

"I think there's renewed interest in tech transfer in that universities are seeing themselves going beyond just generating knowledge and realizing they need to go generate solutions to problems," Rose told the news source.

For example, Rose doubles as director of Carolina KickStart, a startup incubator designed to promote collaboration between students and a local community ripe with medical innovators.

At the same time, according to the news source, federal agencies have been raising the bar and asking for more elaborate justifications from schools hoping to maintain or increase current funding levels. From validating research conclusions to providing staged patent management frameworks, schools now know that the grants they seek are no guarantee without a broader vision.

The university community is also doing its part to raise awareness for these mutually beneficial research strategies and attract new schools into the fray. Johns Hopkins University, for example, will play host to a tech transfer summit in October that is expected to draw attendees from all across the government, life sciences and higher education sectors.ADNFCR-3832-ID-800841459-ADNFCR

Peter Ackerman

Peter Ackerman

Founder & CEO, Innovation Asset Group, Inc.