University Of Arkansas Innovation Incubator: Flaming The Sparks Of Creativity

One significant area for small business development is in science and technology. In this area, research universities have played a significant role through the students and faculty in establishing start-up companies. For example, many universities have developed small business incubators designed to provide operating space and secretarial support at minimum costs for start-up companies. Many of these small business incubators bring the universities’ intellectual resources to arms length of start-ups. What they do not do is nurture ideas. They do not bring together talent to explore, to inquire, to innovate. The University of Arkansas, in partnership with the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, has created a new partnership to fill this innovation gap. A partnership that will nurture new ideas by providing the resources needed to move Arkansas into the high technology of today’s economies and reaping the benefits of its intellectual capital. And in doing so, this partnership will result in opportunities for University of Arkansas researchers to work with Arkansas businesses, in an increased number of technology business start-ups, in the establishment of an “innovation” culture with students and faculty, in identification of many valuable problems suitable for student research theses, and in demonstrations of the difference the university enterprise can have on the economic well being of the state. This partnership, known as the Innovation Incubator (I), has won funding through the NSF Partnership for Innovation program in fall 2000. While I will focus initially on the expanding field of nano to micro electronics-photonics, it will rapidly grow to encompass all areas of the University. This paper will describe the methods by which this partnership will identify and manage applied on-campus research for small industrial companies, research intended to provide the proof of concept necessary to secure larger developmental funding or private capitalization. Finally, the paper will discuss the early implementation current status of program elements through March 2001.