(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-10)
Bridges, David; Rust, Carl; Galewski, Nancy
In 2009, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) was approached by several smaller colleges and universities in the United States for commercialization assistance. Since that
time, Georgia Tech, a national leader in intellectual property creation and
commercialization, has been attempting to replicate its successful faculty
spin
-
off
program,
VentureLab, at these smaller cohorts. This effort is rooted in the belief that
spin
-
off
worthy
innovation exists at smaller colleges and universities without a process to reach fruition,
limiting the potential economic impact of federally sponsored innovation. Academic
publications around university commercialization and faculty spin-offs suggest various
variables which influence the outcome of university technology transfer efforts. This paper
discusses these variables and others in the context of our efforts with interviews at eleven
institutions. The findings suggest additional factors
for consideration in the replication of
large university commercialization programs at resource constrained, smaller colleges and
universities.