Technology Transfer Offices Research Articles

Signaling in academic ventures: the role of technology transfer offices and university funds

University spinoffs, an important subset of high-tech start-up companies, operate in a context characterized by marked information asymmetries that limit their chances of obtaining financing. Given the uncertainty and imperfect information that characterize these investment opportunities, signals about their potential value deserve further attention. We investigate the relationship between the main stakeholders involved in the process of creating a university spinoff—that is, the academic founders, the university technology-transfer office, and private investors—focusing on the role of public grants as effective signals that attract private venture capital (VC) funding. Using the database of all spinoff companies established to exploit inventions assigned to the University of Michigan from 1999 to 2010, we determine how the funds provided through the university technology-transfer office influence VC follow-on funding and consequent spinoff growth, controlling for the spinoff’s technology, the founders’ human capital, and the network’s resources. The empirical results support a signaling effect of the commercialization funds provided by the university and suggest an indirect impact on the growth of the spinoff’s sales through the mediating effect of VC financing.

Entrepreneur-in-Residence Programs: One Size Does Not Fit All

Universities and state governments are increasingly looking towards their technology transfer offices to aid in the incubation of new innovations to create new ventures and promote economic development. For a new start-up company to succeed, a strong technology founder and partners with business experience are crucial. Many universities are utilizing entrepreneur-inresidence (EIR) programs to attract professionals with extensive industry or entrepreneurial expertise to act as mentors for university researchers interested in forming a company. In this review, we have surveyed 38 universities to determine common and best practices for active EIR programs, and we review those results in terms of the different decisions a TTO needs to make when designing their program. We dive deeper into specific details of some of the programs for several top performing offices in the United States, including Columbia University, the University of Washington, Boston University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Michigan. We also describe in detail the newly formed EIR program of a smaller research university at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) which contrasts with the common status quo of the more established programs. We illustrate how the UWM EIR program may be another useful model for new technology transfer offices that are looking to stimulate the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the university in a bottom up fashion. Keywords: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur-in-residence, Executive-in-residence, Incubator, Spin-out, Start-up, Technology transfer.

The productivity of French technology transfer offices after government reforms

This article assesses the productivity change of the French technology transfer offices (TTOs) after the introduction of the July 1999 innovation law and the new public management oriented reform. By using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-based Malmquist productivity index, we find an average increase in the short-term productivity of the French TTOs driven by both positive efficiency and technology change. The bootstrap analysis reveals that these improvements are ascribed to 50% of the TTO systems, while the remaining part does not show significant changes. Moreover, while older TTOs positively contribute to the performance of French TTOs in the short run, young TTOs with hospital seem to contribute negatively to the efficiency of the entire system.

Factors affecting technology transfer offices' performance in the Italian food context

In recent years, growing attention has been devoted to the commercialisation of knowledge and technologies developed by universities and public research institutions. A central role in this particular process is played by the technology transfer offices (TTOs), which are on the one hand in charge of promoting the transfer of knowledge and technology to external companies, and on the other hand are also responsible for protecting and licensing the intellectual property of the research organisation. This paper is focused on a TTO operating in the food context, with the specific objectives of identifying the performance indicators and the main factors affecting its performance and, finally, analysing the relationships among these factors. Results highlighted the importance of both external and internal factors for the performance of a TTO operating in this context. In addition, we found both direct and indirect relations within these factors.

University–industry partnerships for the provision of R&D services

Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) are the main institutions responsible for the establishment of university–industry partnerships. R&D contracts exemplify the indirect mechanisms through which enterprises and universities collaborate on a win–win basis. This study addresses organizational and institutional aspects that act as drivers for the establishment of successful university–industry partnerships. First, a series of regression models explain the determinants of R&D contracts. These models include two main dimensions: the university and the technology transfer office. Second, further analysis empirically explores whether universities in regions with a favorable environment enjoy greater active involvement in this particular knowledge transfer mechanism. The empirical study analyzes 2010 data for Spanish public universities. Results indicate that successful R&D contracts depend on university and TTO characteristics, and the university's location. The paper also presents a set of managerial implications for improving the establishment of university–industry partnerships.

The role of technology transfer offices in growing new entrepreneurial ecosystems around mid-sized universities

The role of universities has evolved from its traditional focus on education and research to active participation in regional economic development. Technology transfer offices (TTOs) were created at Canadian universities to help regulate and monetise the transfer of knowledge created by the university researchers to the marketplace. In this paper, we examined the role TTOs can play in developing a new entrepreneurial ecosystem around mid-sized research universities, based on the perceptions and expectations of the key stakeholders, involved in the technology transfer process, about the role of TTOs, and if their role can help in developing entrepreneurial culture in their universities. We found that the ability of TTOs to effectively support the commercialisation of university research results is related to the existence of an entrepreneurial culture in the university. If the culture and an entrepreneurial ecosystem do not exist, the role TTOs can play is more limited to its well-established facilitation role. Our findings confirm that TTOs can play a critical role in coordinating different bottom-up initiatives to promote entrepreneurship, and in attracting and integrating new external resources to the university.

Technology transfer offices as a nexus within the triple helix: the progression of the university's role

The prospect of increased revenue and spillovers has influenced the mission of the university to reflect an increasingly commercial orientation. This paper focuses on university commercialisation in three countries (Ireland, New Zealand and the USA), through 58 semi-structured interviews with technology transfer officers and a quantitative assessment of university patenting trajectories. Using interviews with technology transfer office executives and university patent applications as proxies for commercial orientation, the study uncovers explanations to the heterogeneous commercial orientation apparent in all three regions. Findings indicate that path dependency; university leadership; technology transfer office scale and connectivity are critical determinants of commercial orientation. The paper concludes by surmising how path dependency might strongly dictate the other determinants and outlines some implications for literature and policy development.

How Inventor Royalty Shares Affect Patenting and Income in Portugal and Spain

Portuguese and Spanish universities have adopted well-defined royalty sharing schedules during the last fifteen years. We investigate whether these inventor royalty shares have been effective at stimulating inventors’ efforts and ultimately improving university outcomes. We base our empirical analysis on university-level data as well as on new self-collected surveys completed by inventors and Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). Econometric evidence from the university-level dataset indicates that royalty shares have no impact on patenting or licensing income. The same result emerges from the inventors’ survey, with most respondents claiming to be largely unaffected by royalty sharing. Evidence from both the TTO and inventors’ surveys suggests that inventors do not react to royalty sharing because of the poor commercial prospects of their inventions, which means there is little income to be shared. These poor prospects appear to reflect the fact that the TTOs do not focus sufficiently on commercializing inventions and inventors are unable to produce potentially licensable inventions.

Business models for technology transfer offices: a case study

This paper adopts a business model perspective to the technology transfer office (TTO). Previous literature has dedicated considerable attention to the function and performance of the TTO but little research has been carried out with regard to the business model processes. This research identifies the main challenges in the traditional technology transfer (TT) model, which is used by many institutions. Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Center, two separate academic institutions, are used as a case study to explain in detail how a TTO can increase its efficiency by adjusting the business model processes. The paper first looks at the way value is generated, delivered and appropriated in the traditional model. Next, it identifies the issues that currently affect the efficiency of the traditional model and subsequently offers a new model as solution to overcome these issues.

Early stage technology investments of pre-seed venture capitalists

Although technology transfer offices at universities are widely installed, in many cases, inventions made in academia still struggle to be commercialised. This so-called technology transfer gap can be overcome by professionalised pre-founding activities. Whereas prevailing investment models, like business angels or traditional venture capitalists, usually tie up their business activity on already founded companies, pre-seed venture capitalists (PSVC) attempt to align inventions made at academia with entrepreneurship by founding start-ups. Against this background, this study aims at examining the perceptions of deficiencies of the prevailing investment models and the role of the PSVCs in the pre-founding phase. PSVC companies operating in the biotechnology and nanotechnology area and with a broader technology approach have been analysed within a multi case study research. The results show that based on the technological scope and the financial source of the investment activity, four different types of PSVC business models can be identified and described. Technology transfer offices at universities and research institutions supporting the founding process of start-ups can use the findings to develop and execute specific partnership strategies with these PSVC types.

The exploration of The Triple Helix concept in terms of entrepreneurial universities and corporate innovation

University-industry-innovation networks (UIINs) are made up of entrepreneurial higher education institutions, industry and government. Universities such as Scotland’s Strathclyde University, which was the entrepreneurial university of 2013 in the UK, organise themselves as co-productive institutions by means of technology transfer offices (TTOs), innovation centres and a variation of offices for knowledge transfer and university-business-co-operation (UBC). Such a network is referred to as the triple helix approach/concept/model of co-operation between industry, universities and government, with the aim of building an enterprising state in which these partners co-innovate in order to solve global economic challenges. The global economy faces multiple challenges represented by indicators such as the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) spiralling health-care needs, unemployment, un-sustainable changes to the environment and rapidly emerging digital business models. Most universities promote academic engagement with industry for various reasons (e.g. to generate a third stream of income). The effective management of triple helix takes UBC to the next level in terms of a formal prominent mission for the university. This article broadly describes the triple helix concept and analyses several international cases. The three main objectives of this article are to: 1) explore triple helix and the related concepts such as UBC and TTO; 2) determine the leading stakeholders of the triple helix model; 3) conduct a content analysis of triple helix case studies (45) in four groups, namely (1) national innovation strategies, (2) entrepreneurial universities, (3) entrepre-neurship education, and (4) new initiatives, frameworks and technologies.

Innovation processes in moderately innovative countries: the competencies of knowledge brokers

Successful innovation processes are strongly related to collaborations among actors in the business environment, including small and medium enterprises, local institutions, business associations, liaison offices, and technology transfer offices. Such collaborations are not well guided in moderately developed regions, where actors are not well supported by local institutions, and the level and quality of communication among them is extremely low. The success of collaborative processes is strongly related to the competence level of professionals known in the literature as 'individual knowledge brokers'. In this paper, results from a field research aimed at exploring the types, roles, activities, and competences of knowledge brokers in different brokerage processes in Southern Italy are presented. Results are discussed in order to define guidelines for education and training policy to enhance the coverage and to strengthen the capacity of the knowledge brokers in moderately developed countries.

Development of a Holistic Tool to Identify Barriers to Success for Technology Transfer Offices

Technology Transfer is an increasingly important element of the missions of Europe’s Public Research Organisations (PROs). However, there remain wide differences in Technology Transfer performance between PROs. Addressing these differences requires a holistic understanding of the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of Technology Transfer from PROs, in order to identify the reasons for such variation. This in turn will allow targeted support for under-performing PROs. This paper uses a proprietary model from the world of business growth, CCODETM, as a foundation to build such a holistic model. Validating the business growth CCODETM model through a literature review, it identifies 28 CSFs for Technology Transfer. The paper also identifies areas requiring further research to validate the applicability of some CSFs not currently examined in the literature.

The Role of Potential Licensee Availability in Facilitating Commercialization of Academic Research Results

Abstract This paper mainly focuses on investigating the effects of the availability of potential licensee as a measure of academic commercialization. Moreover, a qualitative research method is adopted based on the case study approach. In order to explore the issues of this study, ten face-to-face interviews were conducted. The respondents were chosen among inventors, researchers, academic entrepreneurs and Technology Transfer Office staffs in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The researcher used content-analysis approach to analyse the data obtained from the interviews. The results showed that the availability of potential licensee and awareness of the invention market potential facilitated the invention commercialization.

Learning in university technology transfer offices: transactions-focused and relations-focused approaches to commercialization of academic research

University Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) need a wide range of abilities to facilitate commercial exploitation of research outputs; however, we know relatively little about how these important abilities are developed and refined over time. We draw on practice-based studies of learning to create a novel conceptualization of learning processes and their outcomes in TTOs and show that this conceptualization of learning provides new empirical insights into how learning in TTOs shapes their commercialization practice. We investigate learning-in-practice in case studies of six UK TTOs and find two approaches to commercialization, namely transactions-focused practice and relations-focused practice. We find that both practices co-exist and co-evolve in some TTOs while other TTOs are predominantly transactions-focused. For the latter the development of a relations-focused approach is difficult, but possible if there is strategic direction and if sources of inertia are removed by TTO directors. Given that evolving practice cannot be fully explained by informal learning processes, we suggest that so far separate streams of practice-based literature on learning and strategizing should be brought together. The implications for further investigations of TTO abilities and some recommendations for policy and practice are discussed.

In the NEWS: A ROUNDUP OF NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM OUR COMMUNITY

In <i>the</i> NEWS: A ROUNDUP OF NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM OUR COMMUNITY

The determinants of academic spin‐off creation by Italian universities

The aim of this work is to investigate the university level determinants of academic spin‐off (ASO) firm creation in Italy. We are interested in particular in the relationship between university funding and the university propensity to create spin‐offs, and test the effect of public and third‐party funds on this tendency. We estimate the effect of several variables for the characteristics of the university and the context. In contrast to our expectations, results indicate that third‐party funding does not exert an effect on the propensity of the university to generate ASO firms. Similarly, and in contrast to what the literature suggests, scientific productivity, context innovativeness and patenting experience also do not have a positive and significant effect on the propensity to generate spin‐offs. We find that ASO creation is influenced by the amount of public income, by past experience in creating spin‐offs and by the presence of a technology transfer office. This work contributes to our understanding of the differences between Italy and the Anglo‐Saxon countries in relation to the phenomenon of ASO creation and has some important implications for policy.

Reinventing tech transfer.

US university technology transfer offices are adopting new models in search of increased return on research investment.

Un approccio manageriale al trasferimento tecnologico: un'analisi di benchmarking sui TTO universitari europei

Starting from a literature analysis on the main drivers for technology transfer performance, this paper provides a multiple case analysis on technology transfer offices (TTOs) in European universities, by developing a benchmarking analysis of some successful experiences. The paper proposes a managerial approach for technology transfer offices by analyzing the main variables that have an impact on their performance. The results offer highlights on the business models of technology transfer offices, on their organizational model, on their bundle of competences and on their activities. The suggestion for policy makers and practitioners is to overcome the technology push approach and go ahead, by adopting a real technology - marketing perspective.

Technology Focus: Drilling and Completion Fluids (November 2014)

Technology Focus This year has been a progressive year for me; besides being able to play more relaxing rounds of golf, it is now the execution time for all the research collaboration agreements signed earlier in the year, mainly with oil and gas companies. This year also marked a year after completing my tenure as the deputy director of the University of Malaya (UM) Center of Innovation and Commercialization (UMCIC). UMCIC is the technology-transfer office of UM, which is responsible for protecting UM’s inventions through intellectual-property registration such as patent, copyright, and trade secrets. This office is also responsible for promoting UM’s inventions through commercialization activities—namely, licensing, outright sale, and creation of spinoff companies. UMCIC also supports and promotes university/industry research collaborations that lead to potential innovative and commercial activities. One crucial lesson I learned is the importance of mutual understanding and respect when collaborating with industry. It is no secret that universities and industry talk in two different languages and are living in two different environments. To the industry, time is of the essence; they always want everything “yesterday.” On the other hand, universities always have been seen as relaxed; they seem to want everything “tomorrow.” In a research-university setup such as at UM, where academic research publication is the prized output, the situation is even more challenging. UM has received a huge research grant under the high-impact-research special funding allocation from the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia. It is mainly to increase the number of Tier 1 and Tier 2 research publications. It is “publish or perish,” as they say. Interestingly, publication often hinders commercialization because it is considered as prior art. Hence, smart strategies should be in place to tackle this vital issue. A clear policy on harmonizing innovation and higher education should be created. However, caution must be taken not to have a one-size-fits-all approach. In addition, one of the main challenges is the fundamental mismatch with regard to relevance, time horizons, and expectations. It is always the case for small-and medium-sized enterprises where resources and time are limited and demand is focused on highly applied, short-term solutions for technical issues. Given their greater emphasis on exploratory and in-depth study, we see a lack of interest from academics. This is a paradox that creates barriers to collaboration. Key findings from a case study on the Deutsche Telekom Laboratories show that, in order to overcome cultural, institutional, and operational collaboration barriers, a co-ownership collaboration framework is preferred. Building a common vision for the collaboration is key to overcoming cultural barriers. The most fundamental principle in collaboration is circumventing overlapping tasks. Universities should be able to do things that the industry cannot and will not, and vice versa. Otherwise, time and effort will be wasted. Any collaboration should be a win/win situation. I hope you enjoy and benefit from the selected and highlighted papers. There are other interesting papers on the recommended-reading list. For further reading, the OnePetro online library has additional papers. JPT Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 164064 Solids-Free Fluid-Loss Pill for High-Temperature Reservoirs by_Pubudu Gamage, Halliburton, et al. SPE 167033 Alternative Polysaccharide Fracturing Fluids for Harsh Reservoir Conditions by Jia Zhou, Baker Hughes, et_al. SPE 166126 Fluorous-Based Drilling Fluid for Ultrahigh-Temperature Wells by_Kay A. Galindo, Halliburton, et al. SPE 170281 Experimental Study Improves Prediction of PVT Behavior of Completion Brines by William Foxenberg, Schlumberger, et al.