UH generated $900,000 in licensing income, listed 85th
By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer
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The University of Hawai'i spent nearly $237 million on research in 2006, but generated just $900,000 in licensing income, according to a recent report.
UH ranked 85th in licensing revenue among 156 U.S. university research institutions, according to the survey by the Association of University Technology Managers. The year before, UH ranked 89th. The University of California system ranked No. 1 with $193 million in income in 2006 followed by New York University's $157 million in income.
UH fared better in terms of research spending, ranking 59th among U.S. universities. Most of that money comes from sources outside of Hawai'i and pays for research and supports jobs and equipment purchases.
"The majority of that money gets spent right here in the state," said Dick Cox, director of the UH Office of Technology Transfer. "It's a considerable infusion into the state economy."
However, UH and state officials want UH research to play a larger role in the growth and diversification of the state's economy. A key to that strategy is turning UH research into revenue and job-creating intellectual property.
Licensing revenues, which remains low, is but one barometer of UH's success in bringing new ideas into the marketplace, Cox said.
"Licensing revenues alone doesn't tell the whole story," he said.
For example, UH has helped spin-off nine start-up companies in the last four years, Cox said. These companies, which are licensing UH discoveries, include:
"That sort of thing doesn't show up in the ... statistics, but is relevant for whether an office like this is doing the kinds of things it should be doing," Cox said.
University of Hawai'i licensing income fell 13 percent to $900,000 in the 12-months ended June 30, 2006, because the university lost patent protection for a cancer detection antibody.
Licensing income fell again in fiscal 2007 to $686,000.
Meanwhile, the number of UH licensing agreements signed in fiscal 2007 fell to six, versus 11 agreements the prior year, according to the university's Office of Technology Transfer.
The decline in agreements came as the Office of Technology Transfer took on the added responsibility of handling industry-sponsored research contracts, Cox said. Those functions were previously handled by a separate UH entity.
Among the six licensing agreements signed by June 30 was a deal with the nation's leading manufacturer of charcoal.
Oakland, Calif.-based Kingsford Products Co. has licensed a UH process for turning green waste into charcoal briquets that was developed by professor Michael J. Antal Jr.
Under terms of the deal, Kingsford obtains the rights to use UH's "flash carbonization" process to produce cooking charcoal. Flash carbonization uses heat and pressure to turn dehydrated corn cobs, rice husks and other green waste into charcoal in about 30 minutes, compared with other processes that can take as long as 10 days.
Kingsford is the third company to license the technology, but the first with a household name that can generate exposure for the obscure technology.
"We'd call it a significant accomplishment on our part," Cox said. "Kingsford is a good and promising partner. It offers a lot of potential for helping commercialize the technology."
Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.
