Executive Vice Provost Michael M. Crow and NYSTAR Executive Director Russell Bessette

Enhance collaborations with industry; protect the rights of the state and the inventor; broadly, efficiently and rapidly disseminate the benefits of technology to the public; educate faculty on the importance of research and technology transfer and encourage them to take ownership of the idea, and consider developing consortia with other research institutions. These were some of the pieces of practical advice that were offered to participants in the first New York Technology Transfer Summit, which was held this fall in Albany.

Columbia University's Office of Government Relations joined with Cornell University, the Research Foundation of the State University of New York and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, to assist theNew York State Office of Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) in developing the program and background materials for the summit.

The meeting brought together nationally recognized university technology transfer leaders to share experiences and best practice models. It was designed to provide an overview of the best practices to successfully administer a technology transfer office, facilitate invention and commercialize products and services fostered by university research.

In the welcoming address, Russell W. Bessette, executive director of NYSTAR, explained that the main purpose of the summit was to foster interaction among sectors and discuss best practices for commercialization of emerging technology. He said that Governor Pataki and the state legislature see New York State's colleges and universities as a potential economic engine, and they are interested in technology research and its role in economic development. Bessette highlighted Columbia's STAR Center as one of NYSTAR's initiatives that encourages research and technology transfer.

Michael Crow, Columbia's executive vice provost, led a discussion on maximizing the impact of university based technology transfer. The goal, he said, is to put knowledge on the market. Crow discussed mechanisms for transferring knowledge to industry, including graduates entering the workforce, licensed intellectual property, spin-off companies, collaborative research and consulting, and publications. He described Columbia Innovation Enterprises (CIEs) as a "knowledge venture capital organization" that sits at the interface of the university and the industrial sector and explained CIE's efforts in the areas of digital media and multi-institution collaborations.

The summit also included sessions focusing on the role of university-based technology transfer in job creation, building a successful technology transfer operation, launching new businesses through technology transfer, and discussion of exit strategies, intellectual property issues and product development.

In the closing remarks Bessette reminded the group that technology transfer officers need to be both market analysts and brokers, while universities should be thinking about how to incorporate undergraduates in the research enterprise.

Click for a full summary of the conference.

The Columbia team included Ellen S. Smith, assistant vice president; Susan Long, assistant director of government relations; Colleen Chattergoon, coordinator, and Amber Gay, graduate research assistant.