Recipient Organization
N Y AGRICULTURAL EXPT STATION
(N/A)
GENEVA,NY 14456
Performing Department
Geneva - Plant Pathology/Plant Microbe Biology
Non Technical Summary
Never more so than under the present economic recession are universities viewed as important economic development engines through education and creation of new technologies. Land grant universities like Cornell have a historical role in economic development of those business sectors that fall under their land grant mission. However, the traditional land grant mission has supported the direct transfer of technology to those who can utilize it with little consideration of the need or benefit of commercializing that technology. We must help those scientists who have spent their career as land grant university researchers to understand that by giving technological advances away is, in many ways, counterproductive because unprotected intellectual property has little commercial value to business. We must educate and provide those open to these ideas with the level of support to spin out technologies with commercial and economic development value. We must accelerate the process by securing an initial level of funding to move these nontraditional alliances to a point where traditional funding agencies and organizations are willing to support the solution development. And, when commercialization occurs, there must be a nurturing environment to support new business ventures, especially when such ventures spin out from university laboratories. When the university research enterprise creates new technologies, it has the option of protecting any intellectual property associated with the technology, or distributing the new technology freely to those who wish to use it. The decision about how to share new technology is based on the uniqueness of the technology and whether it can be protected by patent or copyright. This decision is made by the university technology transfer office (TTO). Some researchers may be reluctant to protect new technologies because it seems to run counter to the land grant mission. Also, researchers often do not fully understand the potential of their technology or have no knowledge/interest to develop it beyond the lab bench or field plot. Working with Cornell University's TTO, we propose to assist researchers to assess the commercialization value of their technologies, old and new, and help them determine the proper steps to advance their technology. We will also provide analogous assistance to NYS entrepreneurs in the food and agriculture sectors who have viable technologies that have commercial value. Assistance will be in the form evaluation of the commercial value of the technology, finding potential markets, collaboration with the TTO, and guidance in the wide range of technical services that are available for product development.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Goals: Working with Cornell University's technology transfer office (CCTEC), we propose to assist researchers to assess the commercialization value of their technologies, old and new, and help them determine the proper steps to advance their technology. We will also provide analogous assistance to NYS entrepreneurs in the food and agriculture sectors who have viable technologies that have commercial value. Assistance will be in the form evaluation of the commercial value of the technology, finding potential markets, collaboration with CCTEC, and guidance in the wide range of technical services that are available in NYS for product development. Objectives: 1. Assist university researchers to understand the value and benefit of commercializing their respective technologies and guide researchers through the process of moving the technologies toward commercialization, including help in market identification and assessment for the technology, seek out resources to facilitate the final technology development. (Research component) 2. Assist agricultural and food entrepreneurs assess the value of their technology, educate them about the process of developing their technology, and identify potential technological assistance to aid in the development their product. Outcomes: It is anticipated that faculty and staff who receive services from this project will have a better understanding of the role of technology commercialization in an agricultural college; they will fully understand the process of timely technology disclosure; and they will be more likely to self-identify new technologies arising from their research. For NY entrepreneurs and innovators who are engaged in development of new technologies for food and agriculture, there will be direct benefits from this project ranging from technology evaluation to identification of business support services that can directly assist commercialization. On a broader scale the impact is three-fold. First, university-based research programs will be more effective as a result of new commercialization. Second, new technology products will make the food and agriculture industries more efficient and productive. Third, new products will be manufactured by new or established companies and will result in new jobs and generate more revenue for those companies.
Project Methods
The initial contacts in Geneva have been completed under the previous grant; in Ithaca, introduction to departments will be done through seminars followed by consultations with faculty and staff who self-select themselves as candidates for the program. Private entrepreneurs and innovators will be referred to us through various sources, including the Farm Viability Institute, Food Venture Center, and county extension educators, especially agricultural economic development specialists. All those with whom we deal will receive the following: 1 Technology Review: We will guide the university personnel and entrepreneurs and innovators (UP-EI) in performing an evaluation of the technology. UP-EIs will receive first-hand experience in the type of quick analysis used within industry. 2 Technology Development Training: Together with the UP-EI we will define a technology development plan matched to potential commercial applications and how the technology would cater to those requirements. 3 Technology Opportunity and Intellectual Property Analysis: We will guide the UP-EI in defining the potential and limitations of the technology in terms of its fit to the identified commercial applications, as well as patents that may preclude the technology from reaching markets. 4 Technology Development Mentoring: We will guide the UP-EI on the overall commercialization process, allowing first-hand experience with the level of considerations involved in managing the process. The mentoring process will continue as the concept advances into the next phase of the development process.