FOCUS No. 37: Lessons Learned in Technology Transfer from Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden and the Trace Research & Development Center
Figure 2 shows an x-y graph drawn with two solid black lines. The x axis is horizontal and the y axis is vertical, and they intersect at a 90 degree angle in the bottom left corner. In the area between the two lines, there are 8 dashed vertical lines about one half centimeter away from each other, one solid downward sloping line, one solid upward sloping line, and four ovals.
The first dashed line from the left is bolded and labeled "NSF overall." The second dashed line from the left is bolded and labeled "ENG overall." These two labels are under the x axis on the left hand side. The next six vertical dashed lines are labeled at the top. The third dashed line from the left is labeled "GOALI". The fourth dashed line from the left is labeled "ERC." The fifth dashed line from the left is labeled "PFI." The sixth dashed line from the left is labeled "I/UCRC". The seventh dashed line from the left is labeled "STTR". The eighth dashed line, which is approximately one centimeter away from the seventh line, is labeled "SBIR".
Starting in the bottom left corner, spanning the width of the first five dashed lines (NSF overall, ENG overall, GOALI, ERC, PFI), is an oval with the word "University" in it. The next oval, labeled "Small Business," is slightly above and to the right of the first oval. It spans past the last three dashed lines (I/UCRC, STTR, SBIR) . The next oval, labeled "Investors," is slightly to the right and four centimeters up. The fourth oval, which reads "Industry," is slightly to the right and slightly above the third oval.
The solid downward sloping line starts near the top of the first dashed line (labeled NSF overall), slowly decreases until it intersects the seventh line labeled STTR, when it drops sharply. Approximately 1.5 centimeters past the last dashed line, it slowly decreases again. The upward sloping line begins from the middle of the oval labeled "Small Business." It has approximately a 45 degree angle, and runs upward and intersects the right edges of the "Investors" and "Industry" ovals. The phrase "Valley of Death" is placed just above the intersection of the upward and downward sloping lines, just above "Small Business" and below "Investors."
Acronyms
NSF: National Science Foundation
ENG: Directorate for Engineering
GOALI: Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry
ERC: Engineering Research Centers
PFI: Partnerships for Innovation
I/UCRC: Industry & University Cooperative Research Centers
STTR: Small Business Technology Transfer
SBIR: Small Business Innovation Research
Source: Report to the ENG AdCom, April 24, 2008, Dr. Cherri Pancake, Oregon State University (Co-Chair), ENG Advisory Subcommittee on University-Industry Partnerships. SEDL used with permission of the author.