How do academic institutions measure success in technology transfer?
Early numerical measures include the number of patents filed, license agreements executed and new companies formed. Later numerical measures include revenues from license fees, royalties and cash from equity investments paid to the academic institutions and the numbers of products successfully introduced to the market. Success is also demonstrated by the impact the products have on our lives. Other non-numerical – but equally important – results of technology transfer include a university’s ability to retain entrepreneurial faculty, attract outstanding graduate students, contribute to the institutional reputation for innovation, augment its research program through interaction with the private sector and enhance its reputation for providing highly trained students for the industrial work force.
