The
- Daily Nebmskan -
“Home-grown”
ideas for sale
Research park will turn UNL
projects into patents, companies
By Karen Okamoto
Having a good idea is not
always enough. Capitalizing
on a good idea is what
counts.
Historically, the United
States has done a lot of basic
research, but it has not
always benefited from it,
according to Bill Splinter, vice
chancellor for research at the
University of Nebraska
Lincoln.
Splinter said Americans
did the research to develop
televisions, videocassette
recorders, fax machines and
copy machines, but other
nations capitalized on the
American research. Now,
technology transfer, or
moving technology from
laboratories into the commer
cial world, has become
important to the United
States, as well as to Ne
braska, Splinter said.
Unitl recently, UNL has
never done much with
technology transfer, he said.
But in 1987, the Nebraska
Technology Development
Corp. was set up to market
UNI’s patents.
Lacking funds, however,
the corporation has been able
to operate only on a “margina
basis,” Splinter said.
Rather than making
personal contacts, Splinter
said the corporation had to
establish contacts by mail.
Technology transfer will
now be helped by a Nebraska
research park, Splinter said.
In 1987, the university
began working with the city of
Lincoln to develop a research
park, which will provide space
for UNL spin-off companies to
grow in northwest Lincoln’s
Highlands area.
The Whittier Building at
22nd and Vine streets, which
is operated by the Nebraska
Technology Development
Corp., now houses spin-off
companies at the incubation
stage.
Once the Nebraska
research park opens, compa
nies that are ready to ad
vance to the commercial level
will be able to move to a
proposed $2 million building
at the park, Splinter said.
University-related re
search parks are nothing new
to America. The United States
has 130 research parks either
in the planning or develop
ment stages.
The first union between a
university and research-type
I companies was the Stanford
Research Park in Stanford,
Calif., which opened in 1951.
Today, claiming about 55
companies, the Stanford park
is one of the few parks to be
totally developed, according
to Chris Boettcher, executive
director of the Association of
University-Related Research
Parks.
The Stanford park
employs about 25,000
people, making it one of the
largest in the country in terms
of employment.
But Nebraska is one of
only a handful of states that
doesn’t have a research park.
Alaska, Rhode Island,
Vermont and Wyoming are
also without a research park,
but none of them are planning
one.
Assisting in technology
transfer, Nebraska’s research
park will benefit the economy
of the city as well as the state
and will create jobs for
Nebraska graduates, Splinter
said.
Many will be high-tech
jobs, which pay more than
shop-worker jobs, he said.
For example, BioNebraska, a
UNL spin-off company,
employees 17 people with
doctorates. And Having
higher-paying jobs, he said, is
a better economic strategy.
The park will also broaden
the state’s economic base by
bringing in new industry,
Splinter said.
In developing the Ne
braska research park,
Splinter said, those involved
are taking precautions.
“We’re not pushing it," he
said. “’We’re taking a longer
range approach.”
Those developing the
park will not ask the state
Legislature for a large sum of
money and then look for
renters, Splinter said.
The objective is to
proceed with home-grown
research, instead of outside
research."
Other university-affiliated
parks have had trouble when
they start with expectations
that are too large, Splinter
said.
Boettcher said that with
130 research parks, there
had been 130 different ways
to develop a research park.
He said a research park
needed the following things to
be successful:
— A good location.
— University programs
related to the industry
clusters that the park was
trying to attract.
— Patience with the long
development period.
— Financial backing.
— A sufficient industrial
base to draw from.
—- Good leadership from
the sponsors of the park,
whether they are from a
university or a city.
Boettcher said UNL’s
approach was a good one.
Nebraska’s research park,
like many other paries, will
have some amenities to make
it more attractive to compa
nies, Splinter said.
Researchers expect
amenities, he said. A golf
course is expected to open
this summer in the Highlands
area.
The research park will
also be close to the Lincoln
airport, Interstate 80 and the
railroad, Splinter said.
Planners do not expect
any construction on the park
to begin for another three to
eight years.
A committee charged with
developing an implementation
plan for the park is expected
to meet in the next few
weeks.