TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH

R.C. Sims and J.L. Sims

ABSTRACT

Technology transfer of university research may be considered a form of university outreach as described by Michigan State University: "Outreach is a form of scholarship that cuts across teaching, research, and service. It involves generating, transmitting, applying, and preserving knowledge for the direct benefit of external audiences in ways that are consistent with university and unit missions." The question that needs to be addressed for each university is this: To what extent does the university deem that outreach should be stimulated, supported and rewarded? If outreach is considered a form of scholarship, then universities would logically be anticipated to stimulate, support and reward outreach. The challenge then becomes how to identify, create and develop scholarship within outreach activities. This approach can be productive and creative for both universities and external audiences, and presents qualitative and quantitative challenges that are necessary to identify and solve in order to maintain national productivity.

KEY WORDS

technology transfer, outreach, land grant university

This paper is from the Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Hazardous Waste Research 1995, published in hard copy and on the Web by the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substance Research Center.