Big Three get a Wake up call

Business, North Carolina, Jun 2008

Ask a random sample of North Carolina residents what is the state's main research hub, and most would probably say the Triangle. With three major universities and Research Triangle Park, one of the nation's oldest corporate research campuses, the region's brainiac reputation is well-deserved.

But despite all that mental muscle, Triangle universities don't get much money from licensing what their researchers produce, according to annual surveys by the Association of University Technology Managers. Duke University topped the other Triangle schools in fiscal 2006 with licensing income of $4.1 million, but that ranked just 46th nationally.

After peaking in 2004 at $12.6 million, licensing income for the region's big three - Duke, N.C. State University and UNC Chapel Hill - fell to $8.7 million in 2005 before edging above $10 million again. They topped their 1999 total just twice in the seven years that followed.

Meanwhile, cross-state rival Wake Forest University is raking in the bucks. In 1997, licensing fees brought it just $632,652 - less than any of the big three Triangle universities. Five years later, it bested their combined total. In 2006, it ranked fourth nationally with $60.6 million. Its biggest moneymaker is a system, which went on the market in 1995, that closes wounds with gentle suction and special dressing.

Rivals suggest luck plays a role in hitting the jackpot, but Michael Batalia, director of Wake's Office of Technology Asset Management, says the school's success is no accident. He left his post as interim director of State's Office of Technology Transfer in 2002 and found Wake put more emphasis on inventions that had market potential and was more flexible in using its research resources. Billy Houghteling, director of the office Batalia left, says State stopped reporting licensing income to the association - though it grossed $3.7 million in 2006 - because that category stole attention from other measures such as startups, jobs and products created.

The association also tracks startups. By that measure, the Triangle schools look much better. From 1997 to 2006, the totals were: State 51, Carolina 34, Duke 33 and Wake eight. Technology discovered at State has created more than 3,000 jobs in North Carolina and more than 100 products, Houghteling says. An insect repellent that went on the market last year holds commercial promise. But even if it scores big, he says, State won't resume reporting licensing income. "That is not what we want to be used to judge the success of our program."