* Kosman will offer a workshop open to the community called «Academic Technology Transfer: A New Perspective for University Austral of Chile». It will be held on Thursday 9 August from 15:00 to 16:30 at the Paraninfo Auditorium of University Austral of Chile, Isla Teja Campus, Valdivia.
A lengthy agenda packed with activities involving authorities and researchers of the University will be carried out this week by Richard Kosman, Director of the Office of Business Development at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (New York, USA), who is sharing his extensive experience in technology transfer at University Austral of Chile in Valdivia.
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.
University Austral of Chile’s Vision
Dr. Victor Cubillos, Rector of University Austral of Chile, stated that «Since this subject is related to business development and innovation work, what comes logically after this stage is patenting and licensing, something that a number of the most important universities in the world are doing. They are not only concerned with the training of professionals, but with all of the other aspects dealing with scientific and technological development, indicating who has been involved in their development, and the materialization of results of major projects, things for which there are mechanisms and regulations available».
Along with mentioning that most of the Chilean knowledge is patented by foreigners, Rector Cubillos expressed that Richard Kosman comes to support University Austral of Chile in creating a project that will establish a methodology for the patenting and licensing. He also added that “the idea is to meet with researchers, who know the international experience through people who have the know-how, therefore creating a common language.»
In turn, the Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Management, Prof. Agustín Quevedo emphasized that «This joint initiative between the Business incubator Austral Incuba and the Direction of Research and Development is aimed at the fundamental objective of deepening all aspects related to technology transfer. In other words, he stressed that the research being developed at University Austral of Chile must go beyond the academic and laboratory stage to a phase where it can be transferred to society and also be, why not, commercialized. This is the goal of the initiative, and the visit of the consultant is aimed at strengthening the technical basis for this office.»
Technology Transfer
Later, the Director of Research and Development, Dr. Ernesto Zumelzu, pointed out that «The visit of Mr. Kosman is very positive for our university in the first place, because he is a world class professional trained at Harvard University, who has extensive expertise in commercializing and building valuable innovative products and companies. Secondly, because he will conduct a study on the university to determine its strengths and weaknesses in order to develop a corporate strategy of technology transfer.»
«As part of the visit, today I had the opportunity to exhibit information on the country and university, showing the main problems to be addressed to increase the number of patents-licenses, something which requires to value the results of our researches and to determine which can be technologically transferable. We agreed on that this requires the existence of an innovation ecosystem and the conjunction of all the actors or agents of innovation for the economic and social development. From this conception, the Direction of Research and Development, through its Office Gi2, supported the formulation and co-financing of this project, which was also very well received by the Vice-Rectory for Economic and Administrative Management. We are now in full implementation of the initiative with the active participation of our project managers,» he said.
Meanwhile, the Regional Director of CORFO (Production Development Corporation) Los Rios, Cristian Duran, stated that «There is human capital and knowledge in the region, and CORFO wants that the knowledge generated at the university be transformed into innovation and entrepreneurship to benefit all of society, and the more globally this is done the better. This is the main reason why CORFO significantly co-finances both the Business Incubator Austral Incuba and the technology transfer and licensing program.»
International Expert
Richard Kosman stressed that «At the end of the day, when developing and commercializing a product, the intention is to serve the public and the community. This is the ultimate expression of the collaborative networks that are fostered by the Technology Transfer and Licensing Office.»
Kosman also indicated that «The primary goal is to create products that can change people’s lives, providing services for the benefit of the community, whether local, national, or global.»
If you’re interested in learning more about Richard Kosman’s vision, please read the following interview at: http://noticias.uach.cl/principal.php?pag=noticia-externo&cod=49825