Top Technology Transfer Universities

Parents Forum
1

<p>"...according to Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffmann Foundation, the University of Wisconsin is one of just five schools that constitute the elite of the "technology transfer" world.</p>

<p>In his Inc. column, Schramm bemoaned that universities aren't coming up with enough new ideas.</p>

<p>"Despite the traditional symbiosis between markets and academia ... university research is not flowing today as fast as it should to entrepreneurs who are eager to embrace and exploit new ideas," he wrote. "Only a handful of universities produce a steady stream of inventions with commercial potential. Fewer still have a track record of working well with businesses to bring these ideas to market."</p>

<p>Besides Wisconsin, the other four he singled out were Berkeley, Caltech, Stanford and MIT....</p>

<p>Each of the five schools, he pointed out, has consistently generated around 100 patents per year.</p>

<p>He added that the schools "treat businesspeople as allies and equals."</p>

<p>"Researchers at these schools are generally open to and ready for interaction with companies (and even start-ups) so long as the entrepreneurs are capable and serious," he continued. "They also encourage students to think about the business potential of their academic research."</p>

<p>And they understand the role that outside investors can play when it comes to financing innovation, the foundation president added."</p>

2

<p>Each of his favorite schools is strong in engineering. Given the strong applied focus of engineering, for literally decades, this is no surprise to me.</p>

<p>The Kauffmann foundation is involved in trying to improve the tt process. Whether they understand it enough to make a difference is an interesting question.</p>

<p>Part of the problem is Schramm's yardstick. Patents are only one measure of output, and not a very good one. </p>

<p>Consider that for engineering developed ideas, the time from conception to product is short and the cost can be low. Look at Google (a Stanford spinout) for example. Contrast this with medical innovations. Sometimes the patents have expired before the product got to market, given FDA issues etc. Yet the impact of good biomed research on our health is huge.</p>

3

<p>I think RPI should make this list too, although it didn't.</p>

4

<p>I think he made several other points besides patent production. Treatment of businesspeople, encouraging application of research to problems, etc.</p>