# Presentation: 893890

## Discovery to Innovation

**University Industry**
**Partnerships**

**Kesh Narayanan**
**Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships**
**Directorate for Engineering**
**National Science Foundation**

***NCET2 ******October 3, 2008***

**Notes:**
Appreciate the invitation from Tony Stanco to address you on what NSF is doing in this space; I refer to the space of ‘innovation’, a topic of increasing urgency for the US competitiveness.
At NSF we play a significant role in nurturing, supporting and expanding university industry partnerships with the prime goal of moving discovery to innovation; I may even say, accelerating innovation process.
This workshop is about small business in the context of university, investment community and large industry...

## Employment of Scientistsand Engineers*

**Education**

**Sector**

**Government**

**Sector**

**Large Business/**

**Industry Sector**

**Small Business/**

**Industry** **Sector**

**36.2%**

**33.2%**

**18.8%**

**11.8%**

**S**

**L**

**E**

**G**

- * Source: NSF/SESTAT

**Notes:**
Let me start off with this slide to illustrate the important role that small business plays in terms of employment of scientists and engineers. Over the years, this trend of small business as slightly ahead of large industry has been consistent...

## National Science Foundation

**National Science Board**

**Director**

**Office of the****Inspector General**

**Staff Offices**

**Directorate for**
**Engineering**

**Division of Industrial  Innovation and Partnerships**

**Discovery ****for**** Innovation**

**Discovery ****to**** Innovation**

**Notes:**
To understand how NSF participates, let me start with NSF organization. NSF is structured with promoting discovery for innovation. At the same time, there are divisions and programs within NSF that are organized to connect discovery to innovation such as the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships that I come from. In fact, the discovery to innovation through partnerships pervades various parts of NSF, which I will illustrate later...

## Innovation Spectrum

**Large Companies**

**Established Small ****Businesses**

**Spinoff Small ****Businesses**

**Investors, VCs, Angels**

**Innovation Spectrum**

**Notes:**
I ended with this slide a year ago and it is worth showing you to orient where we are coming from. NSF is a major funding agency for universities. To move discovery to innovation, University looks to large business to license or try to spin-off a small business with license or equity arrangements. However, it is important to add an important role for established small businesses in this eco-system. We support this part of the eco-system and look to investors and industries as partners to accelerate innovation! At this time it is illustrative to put a definition of innovation...

## Innovation*

- The design, invention, development and/or implementation of new or altered products, services, processes, systems, organizational structures, or business models for the purpose of creating new value for customers and financial returns for the firm

- *Innovation Measurement
- A Report to the Secretary of Commerce
- January 2008

- real

**Notes:**
 I have taken the definition of innovation from a report to the Secretary of Commerce from an Advisory Committee composed of CEOs, business leaders and thinkers.
 In light of today’s financial crisis, I wonder if we need to qualify new value with new real value instead of ‘virtual, imagined’ value!
 Let us take a look at how innovation fits in the context of university and industry...

## University – Industry Priorities

**UNIVERSITY**

**INDUSTRY**

**Education**

**Innovation**

**Innovation**

**Research**

**Research**

**Education**

**Notes:**
Priority for university is education first. This is followed by research and finally innovation, mostly through tech transfer. Now, let us look at the industry. Its top priority is to be the innovator in the market place to create the differentiation it seeks to be competitive. Its next priority is to conduct or buy research to support innovation. University and small business are sources of research for sponsorships. In this context, industry is not in the business of education. However, industry relies on university as the supplier of talented, educated workforce. The question was how can we strengthen the innovation link. We asked an adhoc advisory committee to give us guidance...

## Members of NSF University-Industry Advisory Subcommittee

- E. Jennings Taylor, Faraday Technology Inc (Co-Chair)1,2,3
- Cherri Pancake, Oregon State University (Co-Chair)1
- Albert Johnson, Corning2,3
- Wayne Johnson, Hewlett-Packard3
- Lesa Mitchell, Kauffman Foundation3
- Richard Pearson, National Center for Manufacturing Sciences
- Karthik Ramani, Purdue University2
- Winslow Sargeant, Venture Investors LLC2

- 1 – ENG AdCom                                     2 – SBIR AdCom
- 3 – University/Industry Demonstration Project(UIDP)

**Notes:**
Eight member committee was put together. These members were already advising NSF in various other capacities as noted at the bottom. The committee asked us to brief them on what partnerships programs that NSF already does...

## STC – Science and Technology Centers
MRSEC – Materials Research Science & Engineering Centers
ERC - Engineering Research Centers

**MRSEC** – Materials Research Science & Engineering Centers
**ERC **- Engineering Research Centers

**University-Industry ****Partnerships at NSF**

**NSEC **–NanoScience and Engineering Centers
**NNIN **– National NanoInfrastructure Networks
**NRI **–Nanoelectronics Research Infrastructure

**PFI **– Partnerships for Innovation
**GOALI - **Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry
**I/UCRC - **Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers
**STTR **- Small Business Technology Transfer
**SBIR** - Small Business Innovation Research

**Notes:**
We called on Program Officers from partnership programs to do the briefing to the committee. One of the question the committee posed is to conduct a gap analysis. That led us to mapping these programs in couple of ways that I will like to share with you...

## Filling Gaps in Current Portfolio

- Valley of Death

- University

- Small Business

- Investors

- Industry

**GOALI**

**I /UCRC**

**PFI**

**ERC**

**STTR**

**SBIR**

**STC**

- Resources Invested

- Discovery

- Development

- Commercialization

- Level of Development

- Foundations

**Notes:**
First is the classic valley of death chart. Here is a plot of Resources Invested Vs the level of development in the innovation process. The Center of Gravity of NSF as a whole is way at the discovery end followed by Engineering (ENG). If you look at 2 oppositely structured university based programs STC and I/UCRC, you get an idea of their position in the innovation spectrum. You could qualitatively position other partnerships program in here. Next, this was refined to add estimates of dollars invested...

##   ●    Program Center of Gravity

-      100

-   ●    Program Center of Gravity
-            NSF Funding
-            Industry Contribution (est.)
-            Program Coverage

-     50

-    0

- $
- Million

**Notes:**
NSF investment is in millions on Y axis and the level of development on the X axis. Taking one example of STC, you can see it is roughly about 50 million program. Both size of the blue bubble and the position on the Y axis shows that. The center of gravity is near the discovery end. However, when you look at individual centers they span across from discovery to prototypes. The maroon rim is an estimate of industry commitments and support to these centers. Now, if you look at I/UCRC, you will notice how its center of gravity is shifted more towards prototype. Other noteworthy difference is the significant industry commitments in comparison to NSF investments. Using this methodology we positioned other programs...

## Degree of Collaboration

**University**
**100%**

**Large Business/ Industry Sector 100%**

**Small Business/ Industry Sector 100%**

**Degree of Collaboration**

- Phase IIB

**Notes:**
Here is a ternary diagram with corners representing 100% of each sector. STC as already indicated is close to 100% academic with some large and small business connections and I/UCRC is close to 100% business, mostly large. Using this model we positioned other university based  programs. Next we show the small business program that we support. Some years ago we connected our small business portfolio with large industry and investors via Phase IIB mechanism. That has paid dividends in terms of accelerating commercialization. Recently, we started tying our small businesses to our centers programs; ERC and I/UCRC, which matches the advisory committee’s recommendations. Most recently, we released a brand new PFI solicitation. This calls on partnerships of PFI with all other programs and even brand new ones!...

## Clarification

- Acknowledgement
- Dilbert.Com

- Is the
- Triangle Thing
- Mad at
- The Tube?

**Notes:**
All these charts and triangle reminds me of Dilbert...

## Industry Partners with NSF funded Institutions

- 1745
- Industry
- Partners

**$**

**$**

**Notes:**
I want to end with a simple bar chart as a teaser. We sat back and looked at four partnerships programs within Engineering and found our grantees are connected to 1500 industry members. This chart breaks it down by the type of programs. To us this is a great base to build on.