by Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal
A variety of partnerships between area universities have blossomed in recent years as the academic centers have aggressively joined the effort to transform northeast Ohio's economy.
The latest is an agreement between the University of Akron (UA) and Cleveland State University (CSU) for sharing resources to get new technology out of the lab and into job-creating companies.
The collaboration could test the waters for a proposed joint research foundation — an organization that would be shared by many higher education institutions interested in helping companies get off the ground.
Under a recently signed agreement, the University of Akron Research Foundation (UARF) will handle technological, commercialization and intellectual property management services for CSU as needed. These services will include:
- Evaluating products and technologies for commercialization.
- Negotiating and administering contracts to transfer commercialization rights in intellectual property and technology.
- Identifying collaboration opportunities among universities and private companies.
- Supporting emerging enterprises. Likewise, Akron will have access to CSU resources in which that school has expertise.
"While both Cleveland State and our university already manage these functions, a combined effort will allow us to leverage a much larger pool of university-industry partnerships," UA President Luis Proenza said.
CSU President Michael Schwartz added: "Our region has the opportunity to be on the leading edge of research collaboration and economic development."
Both executives invited other institutions to join them in this cooperative effort. UARF is a not-for-profit organization supporting the University of Akron. Unlike typical university organizations, research foundations are affiliated nonprofit groups that can hold equity in startup companies.
They can also enter into independent contracts and manage profits from technology licenses.
UARF's expertise in technology transfer opportunities was noted when a report for the National Science Foundation named it one of 10 exemplary institutions for "successfully advanced innovation partnerships through technology transfer despite their modest research expenditures, rural locations and other challenges."
The Ohio Board of Regents recently ranked UA first in the state for having the highest rate of return per research dollar leading to the commercialization of technologies. UA was followed by Ohio State and Case Western Reserve universities, both of which have large medical complexes.
Proenza noted that UARF has increased UA research funding almost $6 million in the past 4 years and helped create 21 companies. UARF Executive Director Ken Preston said the UA-CSU partnership is revolutionary. "Universities typically, in this region at least, have not shared on tech-transfer issues," he said.
Preston said discussions are underway on a shared research foundation that could include universities throughout northeast Ohio.
It could be that UARF would evolve into such an organization, or a new foundation would be formed and UARF could provide services to it, he said.
Universities "spin out as much technology as we can to the private sector … and that is viewed as the greatest source of job creation," Preston said.
But the greatest challenge for new businesses is cash, and universities are forbidden from investing in private enterprises.
Research foundations bridge that gap, and a nonprofit shared by many universities could open the doors to many new partnerships, he said.
