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University-Industry Engagement Advisor

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, March 2023


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, March 2023The following is a list of the articles that appear in the March 2023 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 5, No. 3, March 2023

  • Engagement with small businesses: Plenty of opportunity but limited bandwidth. It’s not that industry engagement executives have anything against working with smaller companies; in fact, the idea of working with these companies, including start-ups, can be the beginning of an exciting process as both the company and the partnership grow. But corporate engagement leaders admit they sometimes simply lack the time required to pursue these companies as much as they’d like.
  • Ole Miss partners with HBCUs to tackle “workforce cliff” in insurance industry. Last fall, the University of Mississippi announced a program intended to address a workforce shortage and a lack of diversity in the insurance industry by partnering with agents, brokers, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
  • GSK partners with FIU students to increase diversity and reduce health disparities. Although Florida International University had never previously collaborated with GSK, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, their first partnership is a biggie. On January 19th StartUP FIU, the innovation hub at the university, and GSK launched the GSK Innovation Challenge, a 12-week program in which a cohort of 31 FIU undergraduate students will seek to identify barriers to timely and effective health maintenance and care within their communities.
  • U Kansas research park rebrands in bid to better target industry partners. It was created in 2009 as the Bioscience and Technology Business Center, but the research park in Lawrence, KS (adjacent to the campus of the University of Kansas) was rebranded about 18 months ago to KU Innovation Park. The non-profit economic development organization that runs the park has four equal stakeholders — the University of Kansas, the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. They insist that the change had less to do with the park’s performance than it did with sending a clearer message to existing and prospective industry partners.
  • A year after launch, U Kentucky’s Innovation Connect making solid progress. On April 11, UK Innovation Connect will host the inaugural Kentucky Innovator Challenge in Lexington, coinciding with the one-year anniversary of the industry engagement program. The University of Kentucky division is marking the anniversary by holding an event that doesn’t just celebrate the milestone, but doubles as another touchpoint for corporate partners.

Posted March 8th, 2023

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, February 2023


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, February 2023The following is a list of the articles that appear in the February 2023 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 5, No. 2, February 2023

  • Pitt enhances industry partnership efforts with implementation of customized CRM tool. The University of Pittsburgh’s corporate engagement activities have become “better and faster” since the development of a customized CRM system using Salesforce, according to Scott W. Morley, director of the Office of Economic Partnerships, which sits within the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Morley described the system in a Tech Transfer Central webinar, “Best Practices for Universities in Targeting High-Potential Partnerships,” and offered more detail and insights in an interview with UIEA.
  • ASU plays key role as Arizona moves to the forefront in semiconductor industry. Some call it the “Triple Helix.” Others use a less “sexy” term, “academia-industry-government partnership,” but whatever you choose to call it, this model has been making big strides in Arizona over the past several years, seeking to make the state into “Semiconductor Central.”
  • NC State partnership with Under Armour reaches ‘next level’ under master agreement. In an expansion of an already successful partnership, NC State and Under Armour have signed a five-year master research agreement and are opening an Under Armour Innovation Center on NC State’s Centennial Campus.
  • Auburn and others at the forefront of auto tech tap South Korean partnerships. Auburn University’s efforts to bolster technology bonds with South Korea’s auto manufacturers — strongly supported by the Alabama Department of Commerce — have helped attract massive investments from Seoul and offer a powerful case in point of the potential value in cultivating overseas partnerships.
  • University of Maine aSPIREs to 400 partnerships with new name and new focus. The University of Maine aims to engage 400 business partners by 2026 and to make the idyllic Penobscot River area the “Nanocellulose Valley” of America — a sort of Silicon Valley of renewable forest products intended to replace petroleum products.

Posted February 10th, 2023

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, January 2023


The following is a list of the articles that appear in the January 2023 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 5, No. 1, January 2023

  • When industry partnerships flop: Take lessons learned and keep moving forward. Every industry engagement manager has stories about “the one that got away” — partnerships that never progressed to the desired level, or projects that didn’t pan out. Despite these experiences, it seems that few have specific tools or formal processes for examining what went wrong, and most debriefings are internal rather than external. And yet, their combined “stories” provide a fascinating picture of how they respond to such disappointments.
  • U Louisville offers special cocktail of training programs for distilled spirits industry. Universities are continuing to invest in efforts to build out industry partnerships by adding adult continuing education into the mix, and the University of Louisville has distilled that strategy into a toast-worthy mix of executive education and workforce-boosting programs with help from its partner Beam Suntory (maker of Jim Beam) and other bourbon industry behemoths.
  • New U Cincy institute designed to boost future workforce for Industry 4.0/5.0. The University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science has established what they’re calling the “Industry 4.0/5.0 Institute,” designed to better prepare students for future careers as part of the workforce talent that will be required by leading firms in this space.
  • Patents are a ‘no-no’ in Canadian couple’s open science consortia. It might be well past time to put away the myth that companies are loathe to work with “the competition,” or that for them it’s all about the IP.
  • Industry tech scouts talk shop: What they look for and how to achieve alignment. Alignment is critical to any successful university-industry partnership, and as a panel of experts on a recent Tech Transfer Central webinar agreed, the relationship between university corporate relations executives and industry tech scouts often sets the tone for that alignment.

Posted January 12th, 2023

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, December 2022


The following is a list of the articles that appear in the December 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 12, December 2022

Industry engagement offices shifting away from centralized model, but holistic goal endures. It wasn’t all that long ago when there seemed to be nearly unanimous agreement among industry engagement leaders that the ideal office model was a centralized structure which served as the “front door” to all partnership-related activity on campus. It was a structure like this, they reasoned, that would most naturally serve to foster the type of holistic relationship with industry partners their universities all desired.
Ohio State and Honda use business plan to create shared strategic vision. It is the norm for major businesses to outline their strategic visions through business plans -- so why not employ the same process for corporate partnerships? Why not, indeed, reasoned the industry engagement team at The Ohio State University.
UW-Madison wins expanded contracting authority to boost industry engagement. The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has approved revisions to contract approval policies for research and clinical trials at UW-Madison, a move expected to speed industry partnering by removing red tape on many agreements that previously required approval at the board level.
Animal health company attracted to new home in UGA’s Innovation District. Co-location is one of the strongest signs of commitment from an industry partner to a university, and clearly a key goal for industry engagement executives. How these decisions come about varies, of course, from company to company and from university to university, but they all involve some combination of aligned interests combined with facilities and resources that can enhance the company’s mission.
When companies locate nearby, engagement pros kick into high gear. Pandemic protocols may have ushered in remote work for many, but when it comes to building partnerships and talent pipelines physical location still matters.
For Lockheed Martin and its university partners, it’s all about the talent. Step onto campus at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and you’ll notice the presence of Lockheed Martin. From the company's appearances at events related to everything from engineering school recruiting to seminars on space exploration, Lockheed is “omnipresent” at Georgia Tech.The following is a list of the articles that appear in the December 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 12, December 2022

  • Industry engagement offices shifting away from centralized model, but holistic goal endures. It wasn’t all that long ago when there seemed to be nearly unanimous agreement among industry engagement leaders that the ideal office model was a centralized structure which served as the “front door” to all partnership-related activity on campus. It was a structure like this, they reasoned, that would most naturally serve to foster the type of holistic relationship with industry partners their universities all desired.
  • Ohio State and Honda use business plan to create shared strategic vision. It is the norm for major businesses to outline their strategic visions through business plans — so why not employ the same process for corporate partnerships? Why not, indeed, reasoned the industry engagement team at The Ohio State University.
  • UW-Madison wins expanded contracting authority to boost industry engagement. The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has approved revisions to contract approval policies for research and clinical trials at UW-Madison, a move expected to speed industry partnering by removing red tape on many agreements that previously required approval at the board level.
  • Animal health company attracted to new home in UGA’s Innovation District. Co-location is one of the strongest signs of commitment from an industry partner to a university, and clearly a key goal for industry engagement executives. How these decisions come about varies, of course, from company to company and from university to university, but they all involve some combination of aligned interests combined with facilities and resources that can enhance the company’s mission.
  • When companies locate nearby, engagement pros kick into high gear. Pandemic protocols may have ushered in remote work for many, but when it comes to building partnerships and talent pipelines physical location still matters.
  • For Lockheed Martin and its university partners, it’s all about the talent. Step onto campus at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and you’ll notice the presence of Lockheed Martin. From the company’s appearances at events related to everything from engineering school recruiting to seminars on space exploration, Lockheed is “omnipresent” at Georgia Tech.

Posted December 9th, 2022

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, November 2022


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, November 2022The following is a list of the articles that appear in the November 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 11, November 2022

  • Universities grow programs for up-skilling and re-skilling industry partners’ employees. A number of universities have long-standing programs for employees of industry partners that enable them to enhance their skill sets and their career prospects, ranging from certificate programs to advanced degrees. More recently, however, with the advent of technological advances that threaten to leave many employees behind, combined with the prospects of severe talent shortages as far as the eye can see, industry has been requiring even more programs for employees whose skill sets no longer match the job requirements of the future — and universities have been responding.
  • UWM puts its spin on industry-friendly research agreement model. There is always heated competition for the finite amount of research dollars available from industry, but when one of your major ‘rivals’ is a sister institution, and when state funding support is reduced dramatically, it behooves you to think outside the box — which is precisely what the UWM (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) Research Foundation, Inc., has done in creating its “Panther Partnering” research agreement.
  • Consultants streamline ISU’s partnering by harnessing data and busting siloes. With the 2021 arrival of President Terri Goss Kinzy and her background in biochemistry and education, as well as the fast-approaching launch of its new dedicated engineering school, Illinois State University found itself uniquely positioned to expand its corporate engagement efforts.
  • WSU creates new contracts to broaden offerings for industry partners. In 2018 Washington State University began offering two new contract agreements to its industry partners after determining that the options in place were not adequately addressing all of their potential needs, according to Brian Kraft, assistant vice president in WSU’s Innovation and Research Engagement Office.
  • Marquette expands century-long Kohler partnership with student innovation challenge. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but several groups of entrepreneurial Marquette students would beg to differ. These students are the latest cohort to submit their ideas for the M-Prize Challenge, an event produced by the university and international manufacturing giant Kohler, its corporate partner of 100 years.

Posted November 11th, 2022

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, October 2022


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, October 2022The following is a list of the articles that appear in the October 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 10, October 2022

  • Are industry engagement execs missing the boat when it comes to athletics? University athletics sponsorships are big money. How big? Well, according to Statista, a German company specializing in market and consumer data, college sports sponsorship spending hit about $1.25 billion in 2017-18, the most recent years for which it has data. Given the fact that Statistica’s data showed a steady annual increase from 2005-2018, the current number is likely much higher.
  • ASU reworks engineering schools to mirror industry, open student career paths. It has become commonplace at large research universities to find dedicated colleges with concentrations and graduate degrees in targeted subsectors of science and research. Such colleges, and in some cases their departments, have often become their own centers of industry collaboration, with major companies actively seeking faculty and students with the expertise needed to help them solve major problems. Arizona State University has taken that targeted approach to another level.
  • UChicago, AbbVie relaunch research symposium in show of partnership strength. After a brief hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, on August 19th the University of Chicago and pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, Inc. revived an annual showcase highlighting the most exciting innovations coming out of the two parties’ ongoing partnership. The singular focus on AbbVie recognizes the importance of their alliance, and for the university serves as an excellent way to steward the relationship into the future.
  • Lehigh partnership links student interns with early-stage start-ups. Lehigh University and the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center have just celebrated the fifth anniversary of a partnership that gives students “scaffolded” internship experiences with early-stage start-ups. To date, 1,000 students across 65 majors have participated in the program, whose main goal is “advancing the entrepreneurial mindset of students in any discipline” through programs, classes, and mentorship.
  • Network of universities seeks to expand the role of industry advisory boards. Armed with an infusion of $662,000 from the Kern Family Foundation, seven universities (University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Boston College, Drexel University, Rowan University, University of St. Thomas, University of North Alabama, and Clarkson University) will be collaborating over the next three years “to help advisory boards move from a traditional advisory role to an active partnership in engineering education.”

Posted October 11th, 2022

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, September 2022


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, September 2022The following is a list of the articles that appear in the September 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 9, September 2022

  • In midst of high turnover, metrics and clear procedures for continuity help stay the course. With the advent of the ‘Great Resignation’ — from which, of course, industry partnership offices are not immune — corporate engagement leaders are more focused than ever on what it takes to get members of their teams on board and committed to a common set of goals. And, when individuals do leave, there is the added challenge of ensuring a smooth transition and the security of proprietary information.
  • UCSF’s industry-based PhD program offers new model, draws some criticism. It is not unusual at all for students in life science PhD programs to participate in “experiential learning” with industry partners. However, a new program just unveiled by UCSF will go a step farther — participating students may spend the majority of their time at biotech startup Altos Labs.
  • New NSF directorate seeks to do “more” by focusing on translational research. The NSF has long been known as an organization that helps promote partnerships between academia and industry through a wide range of programs, funding, and services. With the establishment of the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP), the agency seeks to expand upon the success it has achieved.
  • UMass Amherst co-locates companies for access to research and student talent. Through its most recent partnership with Boston-based PepGen, UMass Amherst has zeroed in on Boston’s thriving life sciences industry, opening the door for its students to explore cutting-edge developments in biotechnology and develop invaluable connections within the industry.
  • Midwest institutions flock to new network supporting semiconductor industry. It was just this spring that Intel announced it was going to invest $20 billion in plants near Columbus, OH, to draw on local student talent from major universities and community colleges. But this was just the start of wider engagement throughout the region.
  • Johns Hopkins provides template for partnering through university start-ups. A recent collaboration between Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) and Microsoft demonstrates a path forward for universities in seeking partnerships through industry involvement in campus start-ups.

Posted September 8th, 2022

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, August 2022


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, August 2022The following is a list of the articles that appear in the August 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2022

  • Industry engagement leaders share keys to expanding partnerships into philanthropy. In university-industry partnerships, philanthropy has the potential to be among the most lucrative avenues of collaboration — but how do you get there? If you have a partner that is already engaged, say, in research, or talent acquisition, who makes the first move?
  • LSU reorg helps pave the way for record corporate gift. LSU and Shell USA, Inc. have been partners for years — in fact, the relationship goes back as far as 1915, according to Paige Carter, executive director of industry engagement, who says the two entities “have been in lockstep.” She adds the following: “I’d say that in the last 40 or so years we’ve received in both philanthropic and research funding somewhere north of $60 million.”
  • U Waterloo plans internal diversity strategy to foster more inclusive partnering. University corporate engagement offices have increasingly been seen partnering with industry in programs to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace, but it’s much rarer to learn of a research/commercialization office seeking to do the same for its own internal stakeholders.
  • In bid for fintech industry ties, Kennesaw State trains both students and faculty. The goal was clear, but ambitious: for Kennesaw State University to establish itself at the forefront of innovation in digital payments — a critical element in the growing field of fintech. Four years into the effort, KSU recently made an important statement, co-sponsoring a virtual conference, “Investing in Tomorrow: Bridging the Digital Payments Talent Gap,” with the Georgia Fintech Academy, a collaboration between Georgia’s fintech industry and the University System of Georgia.
  • Economic development and industry engagement linked in new position at UNC. The new title is “Director of Economic Development and Innovation Hubs for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.” According to the news release announcing the appointment, this person “will lead the implementation of UNC-Chapel Hill’s economic development strategy centered around innovation, talent, and place by engaging with university and community partners, including corporate, non-profit and government leaders. . . [and] will also lead the innovation hub and innovation district initiative, which will provide innovation spaces to a community of entrepreneurs and industry leaders in the heart of Chapel Hill.” This latter responsibility will be part of the individual’s role as a senior leader of Innovate Carolina, “the university’s central team for innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development.”

Posted August 9th, 2022

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, July 2022


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, July 2022The following is a list of the articles that appear in the July 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 7, July 2022

  • To build industry engagement, faculty relations should be front and center. There’s little doubt that faculty members are among of the most critical elements of creating successful U-I partnerships. So, how do corporate relations managers develop strong relationships with these key internal stakeholders, and how do they continue to strengthen them over the years? Leaders agree that effective communications — highlighted by continuous outreach and understanding of faculty challenges — are critical.
  • UCSD internship program blazes a different trail using teams of students. The traditional vision of a student-industry internship program involves a single student engaged by a corporation for a defined period of time, after which further engagement may or may not continue. But the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California San Diego has broken that mold with its Team Internship Program.
  • Ambrose looks to industry in developing strategic plan for engagement. Building on her experience at previous universities, Amy Novak, EdD, president of St. Ambrose University, was the driving force behind “St. Ambrose University Innovation Summit: Building the Next-Generation Workforce,” at which about 120 representatives from the corporate world gave the university feedback it will use as the foundation for its strategic plan to work with industry and build a future workforce that meets its needs.
  • U Nevada-Reno attracts companies with co-location, “speed of business” mentality. Co-location comes in many forms, and the University of Nevada Reno’s Nevada Center for Applied Research (NCAR) has used them all to attract companies that are currently based on campus. In fact, says Carlos Cardillo, executive director of corporate partnerships, he estimates that two companies a month are being incorporated into NCAR, and they are currently in negotiations with four more.
  • Ole Miss seeks to cover all the ‘BASES’ with new collaboration program. The development of a new program by the University of Mississippi’s School of Business Administration to help students learn about sales, supply chain and analytics through collaboration with industry partners marked its first formal milestone last February with the inaugural BASE Summit.
  • Soybean center, industry advisory council engage business partners at ISU. While Iowa State, like many research universities, has a strong and vibrant corporate relations department, faculty and business representatives involved in soybean research and development have another, very targeted means of collaboration through the Iowa Soybean Research Center and its Industry Advisory Council.

Posted July 12th, 2022

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, June 2022


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, June 2022The following is a list of the articles that appear in the June 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 6, June 2022

  • In talent development offerings, seek industry input early and often. “Knowing the customer” is never more important, say industry engagement executives, than when you’re seeking to enhance your talent pipeline. Whether it be in the structuring of internship or co-op programs, enhancing curriculum, or planning special events, industry input is always front of mind and at the foundation of best practices.
  • Penn State, IBM take partnership to next level with talent pipeline deal. A long-standing partnership between Penn State University and IBM is expanding in a big way, with the announcement of IBM’s new Data Engineering Center of Excellence, which will be based in the university’s Innovation Park. The center will hire as many as 20 students a year as interns with IBM Consulting and work directly on client projects.
  • A company’s scandal can also put pressure on its university partner. Bad press, unfortunately, is part of business — but there’s bad press, and then there’s bad And when public scandal befalls a corporation, their university partners are not immune from the fallout.
  • PIVOT Center initiates ‘Greenhouses’ model to marry research with industry needs. The University of Utah’s PIVOT Center has launched a new initiative involving what they call “Greenhouses” — ‘controlled environments’ that allow for seeding and growth of research ideas that address specific industry market requirements.
  • Institute offering “first date” funds for new applied research projects. The Brock-Niagara Validating, Prototyping and Manufacturing Institute (VPMI), in St. Catharines, ON, Canada, has launched an initiative through which Brock researchers and their industry partners can apply for up to $20,000 in funding per year for an applied research project, with the partner contributing a minimum of $5,000 for the project per year. The concept is to give companies an easy entry point with the school, while matching their needs with VPMI’s faculty expertise.
  • New consortium proposes “site-centric” approach in industry-sponsored trials. Many of the consortiums that have sprung up recently are focused on bringing together key players in specific “hot” areas of research with significant industry involvement. But a new consortium just unveiled by Advarra, a Columbia, MD-based provider of integrated IRB, IBC, DMC and EAC review services, has a much broader agenda: It “aims to seamlessly connect site and sponsor technology, addressing key inefficiencies currently experienced across the clinical research ecosystem.”

Posted June 13th, 2022

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, May 2022


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, May 2022The following is a list of the articles that appear in the May 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 5, May 2022

  • Inking a co-location deal is just the beginning: Now it’s time to keep promises. Convincing a key industry partner to locate on campus is a big deal — but then what? How will you prepare to welcome your partner into the campus community? What are the keys to optimizing the benefits of co-location, and developing an even deeper partnership going forward?
  • UCSD-Thermo Fisher partnership rewrites definition of holistic. The recently announced 10-year partnership between the University of California-San Diego and Thermo Fisher Scientific is nothing if not ambitious. Its vision essentially rewrites the definition of “holistic,” with several specific and interrelated “pillars” comprising the deal.
  • K-State boosts talent pipeline as students mine data for partners. Kansas State University’s talent pipeline has benefitted significantly through the development of a “ready to contribute workforce” of students at all levels who are available for data mining projects for industry partners.
  • Sponsored research only ‘one-third of the equation’ in JHU-Amazon AI initiative. It certainly sounds like a U-I research partnership. Called the JHU + Amazon Initiative for Interactive AI, it will be housed in the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering and be designed to “leverage the university’s world-class expertise in interactive AI to advance groundbreaking technologies in machine learning.”
  • Reverse pitch event proves big success for BIO Alabama. RALLY, a reverse-pitch event held late last month in Mountain Brook, AL, drew positive reviews from both research institutions and industry partners, according to Rachel Lane, PhD, the CEO of BIO Alabama. RALLY was a partnership between BIO Alabama and the Alabama Department of Commerce.
  • When assuming a new position, listening is key to laying a strong foundation. Assuming a new position — sometimes internally, sometimes at a new university — has been a factor in many of the professional lives of corporate engagement managers. Bringing the expertise and lessons learned from past positions is a natural part of that career progression, but according to JoonHyung Cho, the recently appointed Director of Corporate Relations and Business Development at The University of Virginia, it’s even more important to understand the vision not only of university leadership, but of current stakeholders in all areas of university-industry partnership.

Posted May 11th, 2022

University-Industry Engagement Advisor, April 2022


University-Industry Engagement Advisor, April 2022The following is a list of the articles that appear in the April 2022 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor monthly newsletter.

If you are a current subscriber click here to log in and access this issue as well as your bonus webinar video, Metrics and Benchmarking for University Corporate Engagement: Breaking Down Silos to Gauge Performance.

Not a subscriber already? Subscribe now to get access every month to the best guidance available on expanding industry engagement efforts and attracting and managing corporate partnerships, as well as access to our online archive of back issues.

University-Industry Engagement Advisor
Vol. 4, No. 4, April 2022

  • To market more effectively to industry, go beyond the portal. It wasn’t too long ago that website portals listing all the technologies and resources available at a research university represented a leading-edge marketing option for letting existing and potential industry partners know the opportunities available to them. More recently, however, some corporate engagement professionals have recognized that a more targeted approach might be needed — or at the very least provide a valuable add-on to existing efforts.
  • Student talent draws Intel to Ohio as it plans $20 billion ‘fab’ plants. How big a draw is student talent for industry? Well, Intel just announced a planned investment of $20 billion for two fabrication facilities — just the first phase of its vision — near Columbus, OH, citing the student talent available at Ohio State and other area universities as the main draw of the city.
  • UK Innovation Connect launched as a ‘dedicated’ industry partnership unit. Less than a year after the launch of UK Innovate, the University of Kentucky’s “innovation, entrepreneurship and economic enterprise for UK Research,” the university has unveiled its new industry partnership program, UK Innovation Connect (UKIC), and has also named Landon Borders as executive director of the new unit and senior associate director for Innovation Economic Development and Industry Partnerships.
  • Drexel, Lockheed Martin expand partnership with STEM co-op, incubator. Drexel University and Lockheed Martin have inked an MoU that expands their decades-long partnership with several new initiatives, including a new STEM co-op program and the fall opening of an on-campus technology and innovation incubator devoted to the company.
  • Newhouse School reaping partnerships from expanded alumni outreach efforts. Last year, UIEA reported that Syracuse University’s Newhouse School had partnered with Rookie Road, a start-up co-founded by Syracuse alum Michael Gursha, as the first company to take advantage of the Newhouse Startup Garage. Now, the school has added a partnership between Newhouse and Great Point Studios that will support a learning/working experience for TRF (television, radio and film) students.
  • Industry veteran hits ground running with big moves in talent pipeline development. Within a few short weeks, Knudt Flor has used his vast industry network to reportedly get around 15 global manufacturing companies (including Seimens, Bosch, and Matsuda) to support his efforts to enhance curriculum and grow internships, co-ops, capstone projects and other aspects of “dual learning” at the College of Charleston.

Posted April 11th, 2022