New council to help guide commercial potential of research

A scientist works in the lab for Tetronics, a firm that resides in the University Research Park. Companies like Tetronics, which was initiated as a spin-off from university research, have brought about "the biggest change in (the) economic profile" of Madison, says Chancellor David Ward.

A new council created by Chancellor David Ward promises to bring fresh ideas and updated policies to the table for UW–Madison’s programs in technology transfer, which have long been the envy of higher education.

Ward, who established the Technology Transfer Council in September, says it will also recommend new ways the university can assist researchers wanting to make the difficult transition from a discovery to a commercial venture.

Membership on the council, chaired by Ward, will include leaders of the three primary offices of technology transfer: University-Industry Relations, the University Research Park and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Also included are Provost John Wiley, Graduate School Dean Virginia Hinshaw, and three faculty and two academic staff to be recommended by their respective governing committees.

Ward says the council will bring “a more deliberative style” to current work by bringing all the key players together. Above all, the council needs to ensure that the university’s academic mission remains the top priority and that conflicts of interest are avoided, Ward says.

“If you think about tech transfer in a very principled way, it means figuring out a means of protecting the academic integrity of the campus and preventing the commingling of commercial enterprise with basic and clinical research,” Ward says. “At the same time, we need to work to create opportunities so that intellectual property can indeed be appropriately transferred to the private sector.”

Technology transfer has been one of the greatest contributors to the Wisconsin Idea, the principle of making UW–Madison’s resources available to the state and nation. UW–Madison research has led to the development of more than 80 spin-off companies, and students and faculty are providing sophisticated training and expertise to industry.

“If you look at Madison over the past 10 years, I think the biggest change in its economic profile would be what you might call high-tech, small-capital companies,” Ward says. “Those are either derived from innovations on campus or by attracting innovators from out of town who get university support.

“There’s a recognition that being close to the university creates a ready supply of graduate students, consulting support and the kind of specialized scientific personnel needed to succeed.”

The council can help that kind of local impact grow, Ward says, by removing some of the barriers researchers may see when pursuing commercial ventures. For example, the council may consider creating an endowment that could fund faculty sabbaticals for a semester or even a year, allowing them to develop a commercial idea and then return to the faculty.

In turn, the university as well as the researcher would hold some equity interest in the investment, providing a source of revenue that can strengthen university research.

Business experience is an area of particular concern to faculty, Ward says. Many researchers do not feel they have the business development training to consider a commercial idea. The council may advocate the development of School of Business seminars that provide basic training to faculty and staff.

The council could also define a more direct role for the Research Park’s Innovation Center as an incubator for companies inspired by university research. The park currently has plans to roughly triple the size of the MG&E Innovation Center, which provides services tailored for high-tech start-up companies.

Ward cautions that the council’s goal is not necessarily to foster a wave of new commercial enterprises among faculty, noting that technology transfer is still a “high-stakes poker game” and only the most appropriate ideas succeed. WARF’s greatest success has come from very carefully choosing patents and licensing arrangements that have the greatest potential for success, rather than taking risks on difficult applications, he says.

Once members are assigned, the council will meet twice during each fall and spring semester. Its first task will be to review a set of recommendations developed this summer by emeritus Chancellor Irving Shain on how to expand and improve technology transfer.

Ideas include:

o Reviewing policies related to intellectual property rights, patents, commercialization processes and conflicts of interest, and providing a way to educate faculty and staff through new and revised publications.

o Looking at ways to increase funding for applied research efforts, especially those that could lead to commercial applications or patents or those that could be copyrighted (such as software).

o Initiating a series of efforts to encourage the creation of start-up companies. Ideas include having UIR and WARF assess the commercial value of inventions, providing business training, and temporarily using university labs and offices as places where researchers can further develop inventions prior to commercializing them.