»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp

Incentivising innovation

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp University of Dundee has an IP portfolio with a diverse range of technologies and states of readiness. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappy also have a range of skilled and innovative people who, given the right conditions, could exploit this IP. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp challenge has always been finding the best way to match the right IP to the right people.

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp university responded to that challenge with the Technology Accelerator Chiasma (TAC). TAC ran as a competition where the university made their technology available via an open call to a wide audience. A sophisticated selection process brought students, staff, SMEs, and industry together. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappy were then matched with specific technologies and IP. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappir task was to develop alternative applications for that technology and commercialise the IP.

A straightforward approach

Getting the fundamentals right became a priority early on. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp initial stages focussed on presentations setting the requirements and objectives of the process. This included sessions on project management and IP awareness. Latter stages saw the teams work on the technical and commercial aspects of their proposals.

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp TAC project provided the university with the opportunity to commercialise their IP. A contractual agreement allowed for easy engagement with the university. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappy used an equally straightforward approach for licences. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappre were no up-front payments for any licence agreement. This included those covering foreground and background IP. Supporting future work was vital, so royalty income would be paid when the project became a commercial success.

Digital technology

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp teams formed in the initial stages later pitched their concepts to a senior Knowledge Exchange panel. This process resulted in awarding £40,000 of grant funding to two project teams. Nautilus Beam is developing technology in the digital market for smart watches while SmartPutty is focussing on digital imaging. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp university’s Research and Innovation Services will ensure the longevity of these projects. Assisting in technology platform development, they’ll also examine exploitation options and IP protection.

Neil Mather, Business Development Manager at the University of Dundee said :

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp TAC project has allowed groups who wouldn’t normally collaborate to come together and do just that. It’s harnessed the enthusiastic participation of both the individuals and groups involved. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp result is two projects with enhanced design input and real commercial value.

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp project team hope that Nautilus Beam and SmartPutty will experience enough success to become incorporated companies. Benefits for the university are clear, as they expect long term employment for those involved in the projects. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappy also expect the team’s more well developed skills to attract greater inward investment to stimulate future projects.