Why you should partner with a University for early-stage innovation
Ken Urquhart, PhD
Global Vice-President 5G ? ZeroTrust ? Satellite ? Edge ? AI ? Quantum ? Cats
I wrote a short post recently about visiting iSchool at the University of Washington to look for cutting-edge technology for a client. That post got a lot of views...and a lot of people reached out to me privately to ask about collaborating with Universities on innovation.
I have been on all three sides of this innovation equation: (1) as a University researcher working with corporations on specific projects, (2) as a University innovation officer helping companies locate and commercialize University research, and (3) as a Corporate innovation executive initiating projects with University researchers to bring exotic new technologies into company product lines. All three roles stretched me in new and exciting directions...benefiting me, the Universities, and the Companies.
In this article, I'll tell you why you should consider partnering with Universities and how easy it can be to get started.
Any anyone can partner with a University on innovation. Corporations, Not-for-profits, and Local/State/National Government organizations are all welcome.
The challenge of innovating effectively..
Most companies are full of very smart and motivated people who know how to refine prototypes into scalable commercial products. The challenge with innovation is that "you don't know what you don't know" - and creating those first viable prototypes can sometimes seem impossible...especially when you need expertise outside your company's current skillset.
A fast and effective way to build new prototypes is to engage with University researchers and their students. Here's how I explain it to my clients:
The 4 reasons to partner with Universities on innovation:
- You can explore and understand cutting-edge technologies before investing in new employees or physical infrastructure
- You can tap into multiple university research areas to accelerate and broaden product research and development efforts
- You can usually find multiple University faculty members who are already engaged actively in addressing the next set of "big problems" in your industry
- Most University researchers publish their results publicly, so you can locate subject matter experts quickly with a little searching on the Internet
Where to start? Sponsor a Capstone Project
Your company can easily spend $10,000-$20,000 USD on a single market analysis. Why not spend that on building a cutting-edge technology prototype?
Capstone projects are often a requirement for graduation from many University science and engineering programs. Capstone is designed to give students experience solving real, substantial problems by the application of concepts spanning multiple topic areas of their major. Capstone projects are carried out by teams of students over one to three academic quarters...guided by one or more faculty members who are experts in the field (and really understand the nuances of the new technologies being investigated).
Your role as a Capstone project sponsor
Most Universities allow companies (and not-for-profits, and Government organizations) to sponsor Capstone projects. As a sponsor, you define a real-world problems to solve and a designated company employee mentors a team of talented senior students as they develop a prototype solution. The mentor guides the team to a deep understanding of the problem and meets with them regularly as they progress towards a solution. The students benefit from learning how to define project objectives and deliverables and deliver a solution to you subject to the agreed functional requirements and constraints.
Build a virtuous cycle of innovation for your organization
As a Capstone sponsor, you can kick-off a virtuous cycle for your company, your University partner, and the project students. Everyone wins...especially you, because you will:
- Gain new perspectives on your most challenging innovation problems
- Assess student talent with the potential to recruit the best into your company
- Provide professional development to employees who mentor Capstone projects
- Get the opportunity to connect deeply with University faculty and staff whose research areas can offer you paths for future innovation
- Get a non-exclusive commercial license to Capstone project intellectual property developed by the University researchers and the Capstone project students
About the intellectual property co-created by Capstone projects
As with all open innovation projects (defined as projects where two or more entities participate in IP creation) you won't automatically get exclusive ownership of all the IP created by a Capstone project. This is usually not a problem. I've run a number of open innovation projects and there are many mutually acceptable ways of achieving the necessary innovation, and the level of IP ownership, your company might want. It's all in how you scope and structure the work.
And remember, most Universities have no incentive to try to build a competing product based on your joint work. Universities are in the business of pushing back the boundaries of knowledge...not competing commercially against partners.
Please reach out to me if you want to learn more
Please reach out to me (Dr. Ken Urquhart) if you want to discuss corporate innovation or how to get connected to the right universities to meet your innovation needs.
If you think the University of Washington might be a great place to start, you can reach out to Dr. Phil Fawcett, the UW iSchool Capstone manager.
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