Small Schools Can Help Their Communities Compete in High Tech

There is an interesting article by Francesca Di Meglio in the October 16 issue of Business Week titled "Small Schools' Big Tech Dreams". The commercialization of academic research is big business. According to a study by Innovation Associates, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, in the last 10 years academic institutions have nearly doubled the number of licenses executed and more than doubled the number of startups launched. Universities that responded to the Association of University Technology Managers Licensing Survey reported that gross license income from licenses to corporations and startups in 2005 totaled about $1.6 billion.

Most university science and engineering research is done large, research intensive universities. However, the study highlighted a number of smaller programs that are developing new technologies through academic research, licensing the inventions, and helping launch businesses that use them. With fewer resources than the big players these schools think creatively to contribute to the greater economic development of their state or region.

Read:

• The full article.
• The supporting piece highlighting ten successful schools
• The executive summary of the Innovation Associates study titled "Technology Transfer and Commercialization Partnerships"
  
• The executive summary of a previous Innovation Associates study titled "Accelerating Economic Development Through University Technology Transfer"