AMD Announces the First AMD Fusion Center of Innovation

New Technology Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to Promote Entrepreneurship, Commercialization and Start-Up Creation for Heterogeneous Computing.

From MarketWatch:

“SUNNYVALE, CA, Jan 17, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — AMD AMD +0.71% today announced the first AMD Fusion Center of Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, designed to focus on the innovative developer environment and software performance advancements enabled by heterogeneous computing. The center will fund, mentor and promote new commercial enterprises emerging from the vast intellectual property and research expertise in the University of Illinois community. The University has been a hotbed of new start-ups since the creation of the first widespread web browser — Mosaic — developed by Marc Andreessen in 1992. Through access to AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) technology and platforms, the AMD Fusion Center of Innovation will help bridge access to new AMD heterogeneous computing technology with the innovative spirit stimulated and nurtured on campus.

To kick-off the AMD Fusion Center of Innovation, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is offering a course aimed at kindling the spirit of entrepreneurship by bringing a mix of expert speakers to cover the specifics of AMD heterogeneous computing technology, while also providing invaluable, how-to background on entrepreneurship, commercialization and start-up creation. This course will be offered by the university’s College of Engineering, Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC), as “ENG/TE 360/460: Lectures in Engineering Entrepreneurship AMD Section…”

READ FULL PRESS RELEASE [web]
AMD Fusion Fund Program [web]
IllinoisVENTURES [web]
Technology Entrepreneur Center (U of I) [web]

Purdue Restructures Processes and Incentives for Research Commercialization to Boost Economic Development

A key element is restructuring the processes and incentives for research commercialization with the additional benefit of boosting economic development in Indiana through the creation of new businesses and products.

From Purdue News:

“A new emphasis on extracting more economic value from sponsored research and intellectual property at Purdue University will help move more Purdue research to the marketplace faster and reduce the university’s reliance on tuition and tax dollars.

Purdue President France A. Córdova announced Wednesday (Sept. 28) a three–part Decadal Funding Plan that will increase sources of revenue beyond tuition and state appropriations – the traditional sources for public university funding – by doubling financial capacity through continued cost-cutting, expanding online degree and professional education offerings, encouraging more robust use of campus facilities through summer teaching, and ramping up research commercialization.

A key element is restructuring the processes and incentives for research commercialization with the additional benefit of boosting economic development in Indiana through the creation of new businesses and products. The effort also invests in more entrepreneurial education and support for faculty, students and businesses.

“We intend to leverage our most valuable resources, a first-class faculty and an amazing group of students, to materially improve our performance in creating and supporting entrepreneurs, commercialization of new science and technology, and industry-university collaborations,” Córdova said…”

READ FULL ARTICLE [web]
Purdue Research Park [web]
Discovery Park at Purdue University [web]
Purdue/Industry Partnerships Newsletter [web, pdf]

SoCal’s Irvine Incubation Center Nurtures Entrepreneurial Ideas

The Irvine Incubation Center is looking to give Northern California a run for its money by leveraging Southern California’s entrepreneurial power.

From Portfolio.com:

“In a state where Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area are at the top of the list for growing new high-tech businesses, it’s a little tough to think of anywhere else as a hotbed for building companies.

But the Irvine Incubation Center, opened last summer, is looking to bolster the startup scene in the southern part of the Golden State. The Southern California center plays host to companies from IT to biotech…”

READ FULL ARTICLE [web]
Irvine Incubation Center [web]
Incubator Tour on Youtube [web]
TechPortal [web]

Report: Purdue Research Park annual economic impact for Indiana is $1.3 billion

This study is the first of its kind for the Purdue Research Foundation. From the creation of 4,000 new jobs to the nearly $50 million in federal and developmental grants for small business, the results provide an important milestone of how Purdue is giving back to the state.

Press Release:

NDIANAPOLIS; WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.; MERRILLVILLE, Ind.; and NEW ALBANY, Ind. – An independent study reports that the Purdue Research Park network provides an annual economic impact of $1.3 billion to Indiana’s economy, officials announced Tuesday (June 14).

The report states that the Purdue Research Park network is one of the largest private employers in the state, has invested more than $584 million in infrastructure, provides $48 million in annual tax revenue for the state and employees in a park-based company earn an average annual wage of $63,000.

“The Purdue Research Park network provides a valuable foundation for startups and expanding companies where new discoveries are commercialized into viable products that help our state through job creation, and that help address global challenges,” Indiana state Rep. Randy Truit said. “For example, the wound healing technology from Cook Biotech has been used on more than a million people around the world, and the new drug targeting and imaging diagnostics being developed by Endocyte show great promise in changing the way we treat cancer.”

Key Findings include:

• $1.3 billion annual impact for State of Indiana.
• $256 million investment in the Park facilities and infrastructure from 1999 to 2010.
• $48 million contributed to State and local taxes.
• $49 million in Federal research and development grants for small businesses brought to the State since 1987.
• Park-based companies contributed nearly $22 million in sponsored research to Purdue University.
• Combined, the Park network is a top 20 private employer in the State of Indiana.
• More than 4,000 high-tech, high-quality jobs paying an average annual salary of $63,000 – 65 percent higher than the Indiana average.
• About 10,000 total jobs generated in respective Park network communities.

Read Full Story [web]
Report’s Executive Summary [web; pdf]
View Full Economic Impact Report [web; pdf]
Purdue Research Foundation [web]
Purdue Research Park [web]

Auburn Research Park Launches Full-service Business Incubator

The full-service, mixed-use business incubator is designed to help with commercialization of university- and community-derived technologies and services through new business ventures.

The Auburn Research and Technology Foundation is a university-affiliated, nonprofit corporation formed to support the mission of the university, particularly in the areas of research and economic development, and is developing and operating the Auburn Research Park.

“This new incubator fills a void in the local economic development infrastructure for supporting the transition from concept to business development and commercialization,” said John Weete, executive director of the foundation and research park. “Formation of the incubator reflects the collaborative initiatives between Auburn University, the City of Auburn and the State of Alabama. Key in making this happen are John Mason, Auburn University vice president for research and Mike Hubbard of Auburn, speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives.”

“As someone who started a business and built it from the ground up, I know how challenging it is to step out and take that risk,” said Hubbard. “We are constantly looking for ways to help businesses not only survive, but also thrive in this state. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to put together at the Auburn Research Park because I know it is going to make a real difference. That next big idea that changes the world just might be hatched in the Auburn Business Incubator.”

A key development for the incubator and new startup companies that require early stage investment is the Auburn Angel Network. [read full press release]

Auburn Business Incubator [web]
Auburn Research Park [web]
Auburn Office of Technology Transfer [web]

Fits and startups: Is university tech transfer flawed?

The Salt Lake Tribune reports on the Technology Commercialization Office of the University of Utah, its recent startup stats, and current business model…

Since 2005, the U. has aggressively pushed technology into the marketplace, using graduate students to develop business plans, help faculty turn inventions into products and in many cases, establishing the businesses and pursuing grants. The process is shrouded in secrecy because of confidentiality agreements, yet the TCO operates outside of a policy framework and with limited faculty oversight.

Meanwhile, some entrepreneurs who want to license technology complain that the TCO is slow to propose terms, costing them precious time and sweat. When the terms finally come, entrepreneurs say, the terms won’t sustain a successful business.

Comments posted by SLT readers are an interesting read as well.

Read Full SLT Article [web]
U. of Utah TCO [web]
Announcing U. of Utah record startup stats [web]
Article: Utah’s experiment in U. tech-transfer [web]
U. Utah TechVentures model [web; pdf]

UConn Announces Tech Park

The complex, to be located in the North Campus, will provide space for business incubators and individual companies.

Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., joined by state lawmakers, industry leaders, and University officials, on Friday announced plans to build a multi-million dollar technology park on the University of Connecticut campus.

The landmark proposal includes $18 million in state bond funding for the design, site development, and infrastructure improvements necessary to create the tech-park. Also included in the plan is $2.5 million to create the Innovation Partners Eminent Faculty Program, which is designed to attract some the nation’s top scholars and scientists, and to leverage millions of dollars in federal and private investment. [Read More]

UConn Office of Technology Commercialization [web]
UConn Technology Incubation Program [web]