MU is the engine that drives technology-led development

There is little doubt that the first component is in place for a technology-driven economic development strategy to take hold in Columbia. The University of Missouri-Columbia is a powerful research engine, producing new technologies and a highly educated work force. Recent emphasis on commercialization of new technologies has put the university on track to become a major contributor to local economic development.

A start-up company called Equinosis is one example of a research group seeking to make the leap into the world of technology commerce. The company has grown in large part from the research and development activities of Kevin Keegan, associate professor of veterinary medicine and surgery at MU.

Keegan is seeking to commercialize a technology to be used for objectively evaluating lameness in horses. His company is still in the developmental stage and is working closely with the university to evolve into its own entity.

Keegan said that forming a company and seeking outside investors were parts of a natural progression. “We went to the University of Missouri Research Board. We tried to get other foundation funding. Everyone said we had reached a new stage where what we were doing was development instead of research and that we would need to find new sources of funding.”

Keegan responded by seeking out those who might help him create a company to house the developing technology, including MU’s Office of Technology Management & Industry Relations. Mike Nichols, the director of the office, said companies like Equinosis exemplify one of the university’s central goals: “Our role as a university is closely tied to the state’s role and the city’s role in economic development,” Nichols said. “We all have a responsibility to create wealth and raise the standard of living.”

Nichols readily employs baseball analogies and is quick to point out that, while the university used to try to save its strength for “home run” deals—technologies that quickly might turn into hugely profitable enterprises—these days, they more readily take swings in hopes of making singles and doubles.

“Our new strategy is about doing a high volume of deals for a lot of different reasons,” Nichols said. “There was a time when we were only interested in a technology if it looked like it would mean big money; today, we look for the highest and best use—whether that relates to income from commercialization, potential for grant money, educational value or something else.”

Nichols said the university is closing more deals and making more money than it was this time last year, as a result of this broader philosophy.

“Technology transfer can be about putting research to commercial uses, but it can also be about teaching something new,” he said. “When we teach something, we charge money for that. We transfer the knowledge we’ve created to others in return for student fees, and that can be just as important.”

Nichols’s Office of Technology Management & Industrial Relations meets several university needs. The office helps faculty members transform their research into transferrable technologies, providing a wide range of support—including developing licensing agreements, planning marketing strategy and providing connections with other entities that can help turn ideas into revenue-generating companies.

A big part of Nichols’s job also is to represent the university in its dealings with faculty. When a particular technology begins to show commercialization potential, a “research agreement” is created to specify who will own any intellectual property developed.

Finally, there is the industrial component. “The whole goal is to build strong relationships with industrial partners,” Nichols said. “Corporate research is on the upswing, so it’s natural that we would look for opportunities to work with corporate partners.”

Seeking to build a “customer-oriented” relationship with faculty, Nichols makes frequent presentations to the university’s colleges and faculty groups about the role his office plays in technology commercialization. Some colleges that produce many patents each year, such as the MU College of Engineering, are assigned their own licensing associates.

“A big part of what we do is communicating with faculty members, explaining what we do and how we can help,” Nichols said. “We help them understand the pitfalls and the ways to protect themselves and the university in their dealings with others outside the system.”

“It’s not a linear process … because there are a lot of players,” Nichols said. “We have one little part of it: trying to protect the intellectual property and maximize the return. The return is more than the dollar bills, at the end of the day.”