A very positive reception in the community of University Austral of Chile was given to the visit of Richard Kosman, Director of the Office of Business Development at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (New York, USA), who shared his extensive experience in technology transfer with academics and authorities of University Austral of Chile in Valdivia, between 6th and 10th August 2012.
Kosman’s visit is part of the project «Strengthening of the Technology Transfer and Licensing Office at University Austral of Chile,» an institutional initiative of the university co-financed by INNOVA Chile of CORFO and University Austral of Chile, jointly coordinated by the Vice-Rectory for Economic and Administrative Management through its Business Incubator Austral Incuba, and the Direction of Research and Development (DID) through its Office of Research Initiatives Management (Gi2).
Kosman, a member of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), was identified by AUTM to provide consulting services on benchmarking and strategic and operational plans as part of a joint initiative between AUTM and INNOVA Chile of CORFO.
Extensive Program
During the week, the expert met with Dr. Víctor Cubillos, Rector of University Austral of Chile, Prof. Agustín Quevedo, Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Management, and Dr. Ernesto Zumelzu, Director of Research and Development, in addition to the project team.
He also held meetings with deans of different faculties; talked with Henry Azurmendy, Regional Secretary of the Ministry of Economics of Los Ríos Region, and Cristián Durán, Director of CORFO Los Ríos; met with directors, mentors, and smart partners of Austral Incuba; and attended the convention Vision Valdivia.
At the same time, he participated in meetings with the researchers Miguel Concha, Alejandro Yáñez, Kurt Paschke, Guillermo Valenzuela, Renate Schöbitz, Luigi Ciampi, Jorge Arenas, Christian Lazo, Gonzalo Tampier, Richard Luco, Pablo Donoso, Aldo Rolleri, Alfredo Aguilera, Patricia Burgos, José Dörner, Daniel Calderini and Rubén Pulido.
Positive Evaluation
Richard Kosman stated, “at the conclusion of a wonderful week of collaboration and information exchange with colleagues from University Austral of Chile, I approach the significant work ahead of us with energy, optimism, and a sense of opportunity. I would like to thank all of my colleagues at University Austral of Chile for taking the time to meet and to spend time with me; for their obvious passion, commitment, and dedication; and for the warmth and kindness with which they received me into their community. I look forward to returning in November.”
In turn, Alex Moscoso, Director of the project to create the Technology Transfer and Licensing Office and Head of the Office of Research Initiatives Management (Gi2) belonging to the Direction of R&D, expressed his positive evaluation of the first visit of Richard Kosman since, “it allowed him to be aware of what is being done at University Austral of Chile in the field of research and technology transfer, as well as to have an insight of the institutional support provided to this initiative. The warm reception from the authorities and researchers was also very positive and collaborative, allowing a fruitful dialogue during his stay at our university. On a second visit to take place in November, Richard Kosman will address the development of the Strategic Plan for the future implementation of a Technology Transfer and Licensing Office at University Austral of Chile.”
Deans’ Opinions
As pointed out by Dr. Rogelio Moreno, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, “Richard Kosman’s visit is very important for the university and for our faculty, because it is a subject on which we don’t have much experience, and we admittedly recognize that in the future we must be able to carry out innovation projects that give rise to patents and contracts with national and international companies bearing in mind that it is necessary to protect the intellectual property rights and patents, if any, resulting from these projects, agreements and contracts.”
Dr. Víctor Sandoval, Dean of the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Natural Resources, said that: “We strongly support this activity as a faculty. It is highly rated among our researchers, and we consider it of the greatest interest and importance for the purposes of technology transfer and visibility of the products stemming out from the lines of work developed in this faculty.”
In turn, Dr. Claudio Flores, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, stated: “It’s a privilege to be able to count on the support of someone with the experience of Richard Kosman. Technology transfer is critical to the operation of an institution such as our university, where research can directly benefit the people in the local community, the country and the world; there is no doubt that the vast experience of Richard Kosman will further strengthen this aspect.”
The Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, Dr. Mario Pino, remarked that “the efforts and initiative of the Rectory are highly valuable in relation to the work on patents.» Meanwhile, the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Dr. Rafael Burgos, mentioned that «during the meeting we addressed the challenges currently being faced by the university to stimulate innovation and patenting in the academia; all of the former with the aim of licensing products or services of technology companies, or intending the university to build new biotechnology companies through spin offs. Concerning the Faculty of Veterinary Science, there are many opportunities in the fields of natural resources and livestock where these topics can be further developed.”
Finally, Prof. Ricardo Fuentes, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences said, «this visit expresses the collaboration of an experienced person in the field of patenting and intellectual property. His support is significant to build a permanent structure at the university, because there are patentable research products that can be considered in this process. The university needs these instances to thrust the research products into a position of patenting and, then, of licensing, so they not only become a contribution to research but also to a potential initiative for the generation of economic resources.”