Trends in University Innovation

…Innovation Ecosystems …
… And University
Engagement

… there’s a complementary “ecosystem” outside the
garage

In a healthy ecosystem, every
participating species benefits
from the presence of every other
participating species.

We start with a 14 Step process that serves as
a handy framework for a region's progress in
building its ecosystem:
● How far has the region progressed in that
14-step process?
An ecosystem also reflects the “willingness
and readiness” of the culture to support
entrepreneurs
● How ready is the region to take some risks,
celebrate some failures, use some political
capital?

Finally we want to know what specific
programs and resources are available to
entrepreneurs and “spinout” ventures
● Are resources & programs available and of
high quality?

The tools identifies
regional strengths
and weaknesses!

Ex: This assessment (of a
city in Ukraine) shows good
infrastructure and

willingness to seek & copy
good ideas ... Lots of great
technology

 It requires a culture of idea generation, experimentation,

success, failure, and access to capital.
 Universities can help by creating a safe place for students,

alumni and local entrepreneurs to generate ideas, recruit
mentors, experts and capital, and to experiment with their
products, services and technologies.
 Most of them will fail the first time, many will continue to

experiment and create new start-ups, and eventually, the
region will begin to see a successful start-up culture
develop.
Source: The Innovative and Entrepreneurial University: Higher Education, Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Focus, U.S.
Department of Commerce, October 2013

Five (5) focus categories at the heart of the innovation and
entrepreneurship activities within America’s universities.
1. Student entrepreneurship
2. Faculty entrepreneurship
3. Technology transfer
4. Industry collaboration, and
5. Engagement in regional economic development.
Each university is addressing innovation and
entrepreneurship in ways relevant to their unique research
budgets and programs, student population, geography,
history, and culture.

Colleges and universities are investing heavily in the development
of their students’ entrepreneurial skills.
 Focused on entrepreneurship as a set of skills that can be
applied across professions and supplement the students’
classroom experience.
 Universities are investing both in formal programs as well as in
extra-curricular activities to channel
 Formal programs include degrees and certificates in
entrepreneurship,
 extra-curricular activities include business plan contests,
entrepreneurship clubs, and startup internships.
 Other ideas include on-campus accelerators, entrepreneurial
dorms, and student venture funds.

 The University of Colorado System’s Innovation and Entrepreneur Degree Program –

Offers a Bachelor’s degree in Innovation (B.I.), through a unique multi-disciplinary team
and course work approach.
 The University of Illinois’ Patent Clinic – Provides law students the opportunity to

draft patent applications for student inventors.
 Washington University in St. Louis’ student internship program – Offers 25 paid

internships per summer for students to work in a start-up’s.
 Rice University – Raised and provided $1.2 million in cash and in-kind services for its

business plan contest in 2011. This money has served as a de-facto angel round of funding
for the recipient companies.
 University of Washington – Hosts a multi-level business plan competition comprising

of different competitions throughout the school year, in combination with seminars,
courses, and mentorship to assist in pushing student ideas to the next level.
 University of Florida “INSPIREation” Hall – Is the nation’s first entrepreneurship-based

academic residential community - encouraging student interaction with fellow students,
leading researchers, distinguished faculty, business professionals, and entrepreneurs.

 Faculty and doctoral graduate students conduct the

research powering many of the innovations that
spawn high-growth startups.
 Faculty and graduate students do not always consider
the market and societal relevance of their research
 Seeking to:
 create greater recognition of faculty entrepreneurs
 integrate entrepreneurship into the faculty tenure and

selection process, and
 Increase faculty connections to outside partners

 The University of Pittsburgh – Offers a Business of Innovation

Commercialization course aimed at educating and motivating both student
and faculty researchers in innovation development, commercialization, and
entrepreneurship.
 University of Southern California – Promotes faculty entrepreneurship
and innovation by supporting, rewarding, and funding the work of faculty
members.
 University of Virginia – In 2010, the University’s School of Medicine was
among the first to include commercialization and entrepreneurship
activities among its promotion and tenure criteria.
 University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Entrepreneur in Residence
(EIR) – The EIR works with licensing staff and researchers at the University
of Nebraska’s Medical Center to help identify, evaluate, develop, and
support the creation of new companies based on UNMC innovations.

 University Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) and Technology

Licensing Offices (TLO) have expanded their role:
 Less focus on commercialization of individual technologies
 Act as a central point where students, faculty, alumni, entrepreneurs,

investors, and industry can connect with each other.

 Now focused on:
 Identifying and supporting entrepreneurship on campus
 Helping startups find the best opportunities and build successful
business models
 Changing the culture of their universities, and
 Creating companies that will be based in the communities around the
university.

 Utah State University’s Intellectual Property Services is dedicated to









helping faculty and staff manage and protect and commercialize university
intellectual property and support institutions in the surrounding areas.
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Technology Transfer
Internships – Offers internship and fellowship opportunities for students
within the TTO.
Cornell University’s IP&Pizza™ and IP&Pasta™ – Is an outreach activity
for faculty, research staff, and students to increase appreciation of the
importance of making university research results useful to society.
California Institute of Technology (CalTech) – Files a provisional patent
application for every single disclosure that goes through their TTO and later
evaluates the technical and business merits over the first year.
Regional Tech Transfer Centers – Serve the needs of research institutions
and non-profits throughout a region and are of particular benefit to
institutions without TTOs or TLOs.

 Businesses benefit greatly from university research and

innovation.
 Universities seek better ways to connect their research and
students’ education to emerging industry interests.
 Greater emphasis on supporting startup companies;

 Continuing to engage established companies that have traditionally been





their licensing partners;
Opening up their facilities, faculty, and students to businesses (small
and large);
Offering internships and externships;
Sharing facilities with startups, such as accelerators; and
Creating venture funds and incentive programs funded by industry


 Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (CU-

ICAR) – Is an advanced-technology research campus where university, industry,
and government organizations collaborate.
 University of Minnesota’s Industrial Partnership for Research in
Interfacial and Materials Engineering (IPrime) – Is a university-industry
partnership based on two-way knowledge transfer. The partnership is a
consortium of more than 40 companies supporting fundamental and
collaborative research on materials.
 University of Delaware’s Office of Economic Innovation & Partnership
(OEIP) – Has established partnerships with the College of Engineering and the
Lerner College of Business to establish a program entitled Spin In™. The
program works with local entrepreneurs who ‘spin in’ a technology, patent, or
product that needs further technical development.
 Georgia Institute of Technology’s (Georgia Tech) Flashpoint – Is a startup
accelerator that offers entrepreneurial education and access to experienced
mentors, experts, and investors in an immersive, shared-learning, open
workspace.

 Local economic development has been an important mission of

the nation’s large universities.
 Strong responsibility for the betterment of their surrounding communities,
 Increasingly focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship as key contributors to

the growth and success of local communities.

 Regional economic development planning now often starts

with an assessment of a local university’s research strengths
and weaknesses ...
 Universities are asking their students and faculty to contribute
to local community development through service and projects.
 Others are building innovation-driven campuses that help
surrounding cities and communities prosper.

 Tulane University’s Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program

– Integrates the university with the surrounding economic ecosystem,
thereby contributing to local economic development. Students are required
to engage outside the campus with the community, often through
entrepreneurial projects.
 Purdue University’s Technical Assistance Projects – Brings faculty and
graduate students together to provide cost-free consulting and assistance to
local entrepreneurs on business and technical issues.
 University of Georgia’s Service-Learning Program – Offers enhanced
courses incorporating service learning opportunities into all of the
University’s schools and colleges to increase student involvement in their
local communities.
 University of Kansas’ RedTire’s Initiative – Helps link graduate students
and alumni with struggling local small/medium-sized businesses. Through
a collaborative effort, these businesses receive support and mentorship.

 In the US, university and researcher may retain

title to inventions made using federal research
dollars
 This system incentivizes the transfer of technology
to the private sector for job creation
 Any net licensing revenues to universities go back
into more research and/or education, as well as
patenting costs
 Most startups form in the same location where the
research was conducted
Source: Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM)

 Dedicated technology transfer and support team

 Understanding the marketplace and the local

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




regional economy
Establishing university–private sector relationships
that may include additional research funding
Bridging the gap between invention and
commercialization
Strong patents
Outstanding researchers doing outstanding
research
Long-term financial commitment

 University licensing increased U.S. gross industry

output by $836 billion between 1996 and 2010
 These technologies support an estimated 3 million
jobs in the economy
 Tech transfer helped to create 671 new companies
and 591 new products in 2011 alone
 Direct correlation between amount of dollars
invested in research and the innovations that
research creates


 Provide strong and sustained basic research

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funding to provide pipeline of great ideas
Ensure that patent rights are protected for a given
university, researcher, and the government
Encourage policies that attract venture capital
support
Emphasize venture creation as a means to
commercialize technologies
Link entrepreneurship programs with Research &
Development!


 Is this product/invention patentable?

 Is there a market for this invention?
 Can we find a business interested in

licensing, developing and commercializing
this technology?
 Can we start a new company?
 Are there available dollars to help further
develop the technology?

 Professionals who analyze marketplace, develop

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

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business plans, and understand patent/licensing
issues
Attorneys to help with patent application process
Experts in seeking venture/angel capital
Campus-based “accelerators,” incubators and proof-ofconcept programs to help advance technology and
boost fledgling start-up companies
Resources for connecting people and/or companies
looking for new technology inventions; helping faculty
further develop the technology pipeline.


Patents/licensing agreements

Proof of concept programs
Industry partnerships

Business plans

Innovation/Entrepreneurship
Initiatives

Venture capital/
patenting costs

Every organization
(universities, companies,
government agencies) needs a
tool for:
 Development, assessment,
and presentation of ideas.
 Deciding which ideas are
worth pursuing, and which
should be abandoned!
Simple enough that a PhD
can use it …

The NABC method was developed in the USA by the Stanford
Research Institute (www.sri.com).
It was originally conceived for the business world, but was
later adapted to several other.
N.A.B.C. helps researchers(!) present ideas in an easily
accessible and captivating way:
 Helps them describe their idea in ways that business and
finance can understand
 Forces them to consider markets and “Value Proposition.”

 Need.

N is the most important factor in the method. An
idea without a practical need for it remains just what it is: a
good idea and nothing more.

 Approach.

A is usually a point of departure for most
activities, but with the NABC method, A always comes after
N.

 Benefit.

B stands for the innovative elements of an
idea, in other words that which constitutes its uniqueness.

 Competition.

C stands for a study of the
competition existing in the area concerned. C is often
mistaken for N. C, however, focuses on the reality within
which a concept has to function.

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