Contents
Introduction:
With over 60 centers and institutes research is strong through all departments at Texas Tech University. However, many efforts are still being made to translate this research into industry. With the construction of a Research Park that will house new startups, entrepreneurship is on the rise.
Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
Texas Tech University has a number of student organization that promote and engage students in innovation and entrepreneurship:
Texas Tech Innovation Mentorship and Entrepreneurship (TTIME) is a student organization for both undergraduate and graduate students of any discipline. This program promotes entrepreneurship while connecting students with innovative faculty mentors.
The Officer of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) currently host a 3 Day Startup event every semester to promote and facilitate entrepreneurship. The OVPR also runs the Kinetic accelerator, which happens every spring semester. Kinetic has two sections, one for technology commercialization and one for student entrepreneurs who are looking for guidance on their own startup.
The Media Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group is a student organization from the College of Media and Communications that promotes startup media companies and entrepreneurial projects.
Texas Tech also has a chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization, which through the College of Business promotes entrepreneurship.
There is also a Software Development Club on campus that is active in trying to get students to develop their own software and even startups. It's still a relatively new organization, however, the leadership is currently trying to ramp up its activities so that it can play a greater role in the entrepreneurship community at Texas Tech.
At the undergraduate level, student innovation is fostered through the many research opportunities. While funding is available for students to travel to conferences to present their research, little assistance is available for student to turn their research into a startup.
Encouraging Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
Faculty primary responsibility lies in research but they should also partake in some entrepreneurial endeavors (60/40). Faculty already have teaching and research responsibilities which take up upwards of 60 to 80 hours of their time. Therefore, expecting them to also chase after companies to buy into their research or consider their patent portfolio should be incentivized for doing extra work.
The Office of Research Commercialization (ORC) does provide a way for research to be patented and commercialized, however, the system doesn't have the best reputation. One professor has had several research discoveries rejected as patents, and within weeks or months of publishing his research large companies came forward to ask him to give a talk on it. So the university missed out on an opportunity because people in the ORC didn't understand the potential value of the research. The old system (according to faculty and staff) didn't include enough a rigorous enough process for evaluating the value of research. It's currently undergoing changes that were started after new leadership took over.
Actively Supporting the University Technology Transfer Function:
It is the responsibility of the Office of Research Commercialization to recognize when a technology is considered groundbreaking, especially after winning many accolades (i.e. Dr. Harvinder Gill's Pollen and Microneedle patents). Staff should be taught to analyze and interface with faculty regularly following up with faculty on their projects and interest in industry partners. It would help if there were subject matter experts in the office with technical qualifications in the faculty disciplines; be it a phD in engineering, Biology, Computer Science and MBA and a JD. The staff in the commercialization office needs to be motivated
A relatively new avenue for research commercialization is the Kinetic accelerator. It's run by someone with many years of experience in this field and they specifically encourage students to take on the task of commercializing TTU research and patents.
Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration:
There needs to be a reward or incentive for faculty to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors. Such a reward could be university sponsored funding for the most innovative technology idea. Also, faculty needs to know their interests will be protected and that the technology will be licensed to qualified personnel or businesses.
Additional resources for building up your startup are available through the OVPR and ORC, including the best mentors available in the area. One of the main facilities is the Innovation Hub at Research Park, where startups can have office space (sometimes free for a limited time).
Engaging with Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts:
We need to maintain a better alumni network, whenever a new technology is developed that can interface with industry we need to tap into alumni and present the opportunity to them seeking their opinion and support to connect with industry.
There is also a need for community outreach and involvement. There are several people in the community who are trying to get projects going that will encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, and it would be beneficial to have TTU helping bring these projects forward (either through advice or advertising through the student population). The more intermixing there is between the university and Lubbock communities, the more robust each entrepreneurship community will be. One such project worth collaborating with is ULabs. It's very new but the people involved are passionate about making the project a permanent feature of Lubbock.
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