Posted by Mirahani bt. Maris
Monday, 04 February 2013 12:01
KUALA LUMPUR, 4 February – UTM is engaging with Stanford Research Institute (SRI International) for innovation and commercialisation ventures. SRI International is an independent, non-profit research institute in Silicon Valley, whose champions are advisors to President Obama on Innovation.
SRI conducts client-sponsored research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses, foundations, and other organisations. What is significant about SRI is that it brings its research and development innovations to the marketplace by licensing its intellectual property and creating new ventures.
The engagement between UTM & SRI International started back in middle of 2010, where a 3-year program called UTM-SRI Venture Readiness Programme was developed to enhance the innovation and entrepreneurial culture among UTM researchers.
The main objective of UTM-SRI Venture Readiness Programme is to make innovation and commercialisation more vibrant in UTM. It is worth noting that UTM is currently engaging with SRI to commercialise 24 UTM IP’s in Silicon Valley.
The SRI-UTM series of innovation training include the following:
SRI’s Five Disciplines of Innovation & Workshop Business Terms Workshop (5DOI & BTW) which provides UTM personnel with a common language and framework for innovation, developed specifically for UTM to familiarise researchers with the terminology and models used in business.
Venture Plan Essentials Boot Camp (VPE) which is an intensive, 5-day course that helps teams develop the foundation of a venture plan, thus improving the likelihood of attracting investors and team members.
Value Creation Advisor (VCA) sessions, which provide UTM project Champions and their teams valuable feedback and individual mentoring from Silicon Valley experts.
Silicon Valley Visit, which provides UTM selected staff with a first-hand look at several important parts of the Silicon Valley ecosystem on how universities, incubators, and commercial enterprises in the Valley operate.
It also provides the opportunity for UTM staff to discuss various innovation topics directly with those people who have helped build the Silicon Valley ecosystem.
Other training, by request, is also conducted under this programme such as:
Licensing Plan Essentials Boot Camp (LPE), which focuses on technology licensing. This is an intense five-day working session where teams learn key licensing plan elements and apply them to select technologies.
CEO Training, meant to help UTM spin-off CEOs understand what it takes to start and run a business, understand the responsibilities they have to the company’s Board of Directors, and provide mentoring for their specific companies from Silicon Valley experts.
2013 is the third and the last year for UTM-SRI Venture Readiness Program. This program is the most suitable platform for UTM & SRI International to collaborate in the field of innovation & commercialisation.