Quarterly Newsletter: January 2007

Special Interview with Bill Eads
Licensing Manager - Physical Sciences, Vanderbilt University
Office of Technology Transfer and Enterprise Development

Bill has been a part of key scientific advancements in our country for forty years as a scientist for NASA working on instrumentation for the Mercury space program and as Director of the Instrumentation and Controls Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. During his career he has also helped shape the direction of enterprise and technology development for the State of Tennessee as Science and Technology advisor to the Governor. Bill will retire this month from his current position at Vanderbilt. I spoke with Bill about his career and views on the impact of technology on society and his observations on the process of technology commercialization.

"Tech Transfer is a complicated process and anyone new to this area has a steep learning curve." Some of the key areas to understand in making the process work are:

• Legal details
• R&D and State Government relationships
• Understanding inter-relationship between private business & Tech Transfer
• Identifying the inventions that can and should be protected
• Weighing every decision since each step means dollars

One of Bill’s favorite technologies is Image Guided Surgery. "This could revolutionize surgery in soft tissue, it also has major implications for ENT and neurosurgery."

"R&D folks are all about pushing frontiers of science. Government supported research is not about satisfying current market needs, it’s about exploring new ideas and concepts to see where they lead."

"Scientific merit doesn’t necessarily equal business merit. Most folks don’t understand how to turn an idea into a product in the marketplace. It takes time and money. A medical device can take 5-6 years of development to get FDA approval and then to market. A new drug can take 10-12 years for regulatory hurdles. Bill cited examples of some technologies that took 15 years to reach the marketplace."

"Today’s science is based mainly on the knowledge industry. As an example, computer technology has made diagnostics easier, more reliable and more economical."

What should be the focus of Tech Transfer?
"Growing investment opportunities to foster start-ups. Make Tech Transfer more user friendly and more sensitive to the needs of start-up companies. The Tech Transfer community has to be a bridge between scientific research & technology and the very real world of business."

Bill’s experience says that the keys to future success of Tech Transfer at Universities are:

• Make direct investments in start-ups
• Incubation facilities for technology maturation
• Policy incentives from State Government for investment dollars
• Remove hurdles to enable fostering of start-ups
• Remove barriers to Universities and Private industry collaborations

"You pick the technologies you see as winners and become pro-active."

What can the State do to help foster innovation?

• Provide seed funding for start-ups
• Provide a bridge to the SBIR process
• Encourage more public/private collaborations
• Legislative initiatives for investment tax credit
s
• Investment in technology foundation infrastructure

"I would encourage public universities to work with private industry in research collaborations. Business is complicated and very different from research. Start-ups are concerned with meeting payrolls and making a profit. We all need to develop an appreciation of the separate needs of moving from research & science to hard core business."

For those who are wondering, "Vanderbilt was the most fun I’ve ever had."

Thanks Bill, for everything you’ve done!

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