Research, technology bridging the time gap
By ROBERT TRIGAUX
Published May 20, 2005
Venture capitalists operate at hyper-clock speed, so time is critical. Universities must learn to respond promptly. They operate in university geologic time.
- MAX WALLACE, chairman, North Carolina
Innovation Foundation
ORLANDO - Florida's university researchers are still from Mars. And the entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who want to turn their research into problem-solving businesses are still from Venus.
But the good news is their orbits are getting closer. The vast cultural divide is shrinking.
I returned Thursday afternoon from Orlando after spending two days at the statewide and second annual "Tech Transfer" conference. It's a young but important event that this year allowed some of the best researchers at 13 of Florida's major universities to rub elbows with the business people (from patent lawyers and financiers to entrepreneurs and marketing experts) who want to commercialize the state university system's best research ideas.
The gathering is not for the weak of vocabulary. It's a fascinating melange of Ph.Ds spouting about radioisotope batteries or phytoneutracidicals as immunostimulators, but also researchers explaining how the "Bio Glove" can provide sensations to hands damaged by accident and disease, or a new laser process speeds the manufacturing of semiconductors.
The conference doubles as a platform for the business community to remind universities that "great" ideas will never see the light of the free market - unless a researcher can clearly and quickly explain what real-world problem will be solved.
The Orlando gathering, launched last year in St. Petersburg, attracted some 350 people and concluded with a modestly positive spin.
The "good" data? Patents issued to Florida's university system - a sign of innovation - are up nearly 7 percent to 127 in 2004 from 119 in 2003. Public and private sector investments in research at major Florida universities rose $40-million to more than $1.4-billion in 2004 from 2003. The number of agreements between universities and the private sector increased to 116 in 2004 from 106 in 2003. About 42 of those deals were with Florida companies.
Now here's the reality check.
At the same time the Orlando meeting was under way, California-based Scripps Research Institute told its lawyers to come up with an exit strategy rather than go ahead with plans to build a Palm Beach County biotech facility financed with a whopping $800-million of public money and the personal backing of Gov. Jeb Bush.
Scripps isn't leaving the state yet, but says it is frustrated at the lack of progress in getting settled here.
Other sobering news was aired at the Orlando conference. In Tallahassee this year, a bill introduced to commit $50-million to fund a second series of "centers of excellence" to promote technology research at Florida universities died from a lack of support.
The original three centers in 2003 - awarded to Florida Atlantic University for biomedical and marine biotechnology, the University of Florida for biotechnology and the University of Central Florida for laser research - are winners.
The political demise of a second round of these centers sends a poor signal that the state is serious about challenging places like California's Silicon Valley, North Carolina's Research Triangle park, Boston - or just about anywhere else - for a slice of the future technology and biotech pie.
I mention these setbacks only to remind Florida's economic development community that staying bullish and positive is admirable. But adopting a Pollyanna complex is ill-timed. (I'm not even mentioning the globalization pressures confronting Florida and the United States.)
Florida's technology pursuits could use a lot more urgency and a little less self-congratulations.
One column cannot do justice to the range of discussion at this tech transfer meeting. So here are a few of my favorite quotes gleaned from the two-day gathering, with a brief explanation:
SHOPPING RAW TECH IS A TOUGH JOB. Bill Porter, chief technology transfer officer at Utek Corp. in Plant City, explaining the difficulty of sifting through basic research at 300 universities to find ideas that make commercial sense.
OUR UNIVERSITY MISSION NOW INCLUDES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Max Wallace, chairman of the North Carolina Innovation Foundation, cautioning Florida universities that once they commit to economic development, they will have to justify their actions based on how many good-paying jobs they create for the community.
THE GOLDEN RULE: THOSE WHO HAVE THE GOLD MAKE THE RULES. George Gordon, chairman of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum and CEO of the young Tampa company Enporion, joking with a panel of venture capitalists on how money is power in the world of tech startups.
WHEN I AM IN THE (SAN FRANCISCO) BAY AREA, I CAN FEEL THE ENERGY. Wei Wu He, a professor-turned-venture-capitalist, describing the intensity of entrepreneurial activity in the greater Silicon Valley area. He looks for researchers enthusiastic to commercialize their ideas.
EVERYONE IS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO COMPETE AGAINST WAL-MART AND WE ARE TRYING TO HELP THEM. Steve Roden, CEO of Tallahassee startup LearnSomething Inc., pitching his firm's online training services for the food and pharmacy industries.
IF YOU GATHER YOUR FAMILY AND SAY YOU ARE QUITTING YOUR JOB AND STARTING YOUR OWN COMPANY, AND THEY APPLAUD, THEN YOU ARE IN AN ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE. Dan Berglund, CEO of Ohio's State Science and Technology Institute, emphasizing the importance of states encouraging and supporting startup businesses.
Let's end on the upbeat words of Dr. M.J. Soileau, University of Central Florida's optics professor and vice president of research: Florida's universities are open for business.
Now all they need are customers.
Robert Trigaux can be reached at trigaux@sptimes.com or 727 893-8405.