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UB'S RESEARCH ENGINE REMAINS A DYNAMO YET TO BE HARNESSED
Published on November 18, 2001
Author: FRED O. WILLIAMS - News Business Reporter
© The Buffalo News Inc.
If a knowledge-intensive economy means laboratories are as important as factories, Western New York sits on a vein of economic potential.
The University at Buffalo has $125 million in annual research spending and yields more than 20 patented inventions a year. Its labs produce cancer-fighting compounds and new ways of making silicon chips. Its supercomputer can model drug molecules based on information from the human genetic map. In an age when industries sprout up around universities, UB could be a resource for economic growth on a level with Niagara Falls hydropower in past eras. But like the falls, there's no guarantee UB's economic potential will be harnessed for growth here in its back yard. "Certainly there's a supply of talent, but you haven't translated that into an impact on the economy," said Robert Atkinson, director of the Progressive Policy Institute's Technology and New Economy Project, in Washington, D.C. In the project's study of 50 cities this summer, Buffalo ranked fourth in engineering graduates per-capita and 14th in research -- largely because of UB -- but low in technology firms and workers. UB already has a huge economic impact on the region through salaries and direct spending. But to leverage its research into jobs takes venture capital for start-up firms and an existing base of technology companies, two things that are scarce in Buffalo. Many of the patents filed by UB researchers are licensed to distant companies, or remain unlicensed for commercial use. But UB is taking steps to increase its economic spinoffs regionally, including commercializing its research results and working on joint projects with local industry. Like other campuses, UB is becoming more attuned to "technology transfer," turning the fruits of research to commercial benefit. The licenses to produce inventions generate fees that are plowed back into research, university officials said. "We don't have to rediscover the wheel here -- there's a lot of expertise with (commercialization)," said Dr. Robert Genco, head of UB's Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach. "It's very mature at places like Harvard. . . . At MIT, they've been doing this for probably 40 years." Genco's office was created in October, elevating the role of technology transfer in the administrative hierarchy. "The new office will . . . foster the creation of new businesses and commercialization of the university's intellectual property," UB Provost Elizabeth D. Capaldi said. The office headed by Genco -- who is an inventor of anti-cancer compounds puts the ingredients for spinoff economic growth under one umbrella. It oversees patents and licenses, an incubator, limited venture funding and university ties with local businesses. Existing UB spinoff companies are small now, but may provide the model for future growth of skilled, high-paying jobs. Immco Diagnostics, a maker of medical testing kits founded by three researchers in 1971, has 40 employees and annual sales of about $5 million. "I think the university is much more organized (for technology transfer)," CEO Vijay Kumar said. "Now I think you will see things happen." The company is applying for $100,000 in matching funds from the newly formed Center for Advanced Technology to develop new testing technology. A $1 million annual program, the center provides seed money to help transform laboratory developments into prototypes for commercial products. "It's hard to get venture capital in the Buffalo area," Kumar said. Silicon Valley and Boston's technology corridor provide the best-known examples of industries springing up around research institutions. But there are also examples of medium-size cities duplicating the model. Austin, Texas, became a center for information technology industry in 1988, when the chip research consortium Sematech located there. But the basis for the city's high-tech industry was built long before, when IBM and Texas Instruments were attracted by the city's low costs and the technology expertise at the University of Texas. "If you think about the steel industry, those companies located at the source of materials they needed," said John Breier, vice president for economic development at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. "For the computer industry, the material they need is intellectual capital -- that's at universities." Texas moved early to link industries with university research, creating "centers of excellence" for specific fields in 1985. UB's supercomputer center is another potential advantage for regional industry. The center has welcomed joint projects with regional companies since it opened its doors in 1999, making available one of the most powerful academic computers in the United States. Altogether, 10 companies throughout upstate New York are using the resource, a handful of them in Western New York, center Director Russ Miller said. Praxair and Veridian, two of the region's most research-intensive companies, are among the local companies pursuing joint projects with university researchers using the high-end computing power. About 90 percent of computer time is used in academic research, leaving 10 percent for joint projects with industry. "I think it's growing at a pretty reasonable pace," Miller said. e-mail: fwilliams@buffnews.comSHARON CANTILLON/Buffalo News
Vijay Kumar, CEO of Immco Diagnostics, is seeking $100,000 from UB's
newly formed Center for Advanced Technology, which provides seed money
to turn laboratory developments into product prototypes.
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