How to Affordably Outsource Your R&D to Universities
Even small composites companies in the composites industry can engage in robust research and development by partnering with universities. Larry Bank, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, will explain how in a Composites 2010 education session titled Getting the Most Out of Collaborations with University Researchers. He and several other presenters from academia and the industry will share their success stories.
The session is geared toward “companies that produce products or materials that need to do research but don’t have in-house research capabilities and would like to learn how to do research using university researchers,” Bank says.
Universities typically charge overhead fees for research projects that come through the sponsorships. This method, which is expensive, often prevents small companies from funding research. Bank says there’s another way: “All universities have alternative mechanisms to allow individuals or companies to fund research or activities in academic department s without paying overhead by simply providing or donating funds through a university donation.”
This method allows companies to fund research in smaller amounts. However, companies give up the ability to direct the exact research that will be performed. “When someone works through these gift type donations, then it depends on the trust between the company and the researcher, to basically give the money, to give a letter that says we’re giving this gift to your research group to work in the area of fiber composites in construction, for example, and we look forward to hearing what you’ve done with it,” Bank says.
Bank and his co-presenters will share how they’ve built trust with industry partners and worked on research that benefitted both parties. In many cases, the research is performed by graduate students who need funding and research ideas. “I’ve had a number of students supported in this way. In order to get a graduate degree, there needs to be some contribution to the field beyond testing a bunch of materials,” says Bank. “I see a tremendous benefit to companies if you have a research budget. For $50,000, you can’t have a research department of your own, but you could give out two donations to universities for $25,000 to look at new variations on your materials and processes.”
For companies that worry about whether the research is proprietary, Bank has a response: “Industry folks are much more nervous than they need to be when they work with academic researchers. Typically the research we do in process and manufacturing is product-specific, so even if we publish something in the open literature, we discuss the scientific advances and not the practical applications of the research.”
COMPOSITES 2010: Discover the Future of Composites Today. February 9-11. Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas.www.acmashow.org
