Where research and economic development meet
The University System of Georgia will hold a summit Monday examining how the research developed by colleges can help the state economy. This work also impacts how we live. Here are some examples:
Peanuts. Varieties developed by the University of Georgia account for more than 90 percent of all peanuts grown in Georgia and surrounding states. Almost half of all peanuts produced in the U.S. are grown in Georgia.
Blueberries. UGA blueberries account for about 70 percent of all that are grown in the state. Georgia is No. 2 in the U.S. in overall production.
Security. Startup company Pindrop Security addressed phone fraud and is based on research out of the Georgia Tech Information Security Center. The Internet makes it easy for criminals to tamper with Call ID and pretend to be different people. Pindrop's technology detects this fraud and provides higher security that benefits banks and others.
Business support. Tech houses the Advanced Technology Development Center, which advises, mentors and provides other support to Georgia technology companies. About 350 companies participate. Companies don't have to be affiliated with Tech's research to participate.
Source: University of Georgia, Georgia Tech.
Nestled in a lab at Georgia State University, researchers and graduate students develop natural ways to make fruit and vegetables last longer.
Peaches can last for about 10 days longer than fruit not treated. Bananas are extended by nearly two weeks, said George Pierce, a biology professor who is co-leader on the research. The team discovered a natural organism in soil that tricks plants into not ripening as quickly as they normally would.
The research has strong economic potential. Georgia’s farming industry has supported and monitored developments, considering spoilage is the main reason nearly 40 percent of harvested crops go to waste, Pierce said. The work has already resulted in three patents, and companies have expressed interest in licensing the patents.
This is just one example of how Chancellor Hank Huckaby says research in the University System of Georgia can promote job opportunities, lure companies to the state and spur overall economic growth. Huckaby will host a forum on these issues today, highlighting what has been achieved and how the system can improve its work with businesses and industry.
Georgia isn’t the only state having these discussions as leaders look to rebound from the recession. The Ohio Board of Regents formed a task force to increase and improve technology transfer among colleges and industry. Federal lawmakers and agency heads have discussed ways to ensure the university research they support financially makes it to the marketplace.
“Everyone is desperate for economic growth,” said Lesa Mitchell, vice president of innovation and networks for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which is focused on advancing entrepreneurship and improving education.
“There needs to be a focus on creating jobs and improving the commercialization of the technological developments happening in our colleges,” said Mitchell, who has written about this issue.
While Georgia Tech and Emory University, a private university, are considered strong in their ability to move science into the market, Mitchell didn’t know of other Georgia colleges ranked high in this area.
Georgia Tech was No. 23 and the University of Georgia came in at No. 52 in a ranking assembled by the Kauffman Foundation over the number of patents issued to schools between 1981 and 2005.
The government factor
Concerns about research funding have prompted states to highlight the research happening in their colleges, Mitchell said. Congress is grappling with sequestration — aka the “fiscal cliff” — that could trigger mandatory cuts to federal programs, including research money awarded to colleges such as Georgia State, Georgia Tech and UGA.
In addition, Georgia’s summit is taking place a month before the start of the new legislative session in which lawmakers will approve funding for public colleges and tackle other issues. Seven lawmakers are among the nearly 230 people expected to attend the summit.
While the state doesn’t supply the bulk of the college research money, its financial support remains critical, said Stephen Fleming, a Tech vice president and executive director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute.
Of the $655 million Georgia Tech spent on research and development during the 2011 fiscal year, $11 million came from state and local government and $42 million came from business, according to a November brief from the National Science Foundation.
Tech and other colleges are looking to increase the funding they receive from the private sector. About 15 percent of Tech’s research funding comes from there, while the private sector accounts for about 7 percent of the research money at many other schools, Fleming said.
Tech’s innovation institute moves technology developed by faculty and students into the marketplace. Sometimes the work is licensed to existing companies — corporations as huge as Boeing and Microsoft, as well as smaller businesses. About half of the license agreements go to companies headquartered in Georgia or with significant operations in the state, Fleming said.
“The point is not to make money, but to find homes for our discoveries and help our graduate students find work,” Fleming said. “We tell companies to hire the graduate students who did the work so that they bring with them the knowledge and experience.”
The institute also creates startup companies to commercialize the research. More than 90 percent of these companies operate in Georgia, Fleming said.
“We run a dating service,” Fleming said. “We match the professors and graduate students with the entrepreneurs.”
Wide-ranging benefits
Five Georgia-based startups have formed based on advances from UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. Work from the center, which was established in 1985, has been used to produce more efficient biofuels and develop diagnostic tests and new drugs to prevent and treat diseases.
The center has also lured existing companies to Georgia. For example, Galectin, a Massachusetts-based biotech firm, relocated its headquarters to Norcross to be closer to the UGA center, with which it collaborates.
Research is also directed to state needs.
About a dozen years ago, professors at Georgia Health Sciences University noticed the difficulty small, rural hospitals face in diagnosing and treating patients with acute stroke. Medicine was available to reduce the damage, but the drugs are time-sensitive and hospitals struggled to meet the window.
David Hess, a stroke specialist and professor at the college, and others developed a telemedicine system that allows doctors to assess patients and provide treatment options using live video and on-demand medical data. Depending on the patient, these real-time consults can last between 10 to 20 minutes, Hess said. The system works even if there is low bandwidth, a concern in rural parts of the country.
The team published papers about its work and was approached by officials in New York who wanted to use the system. Hess realized the program could benefit many communities, noting hospitals don’t always have a neurologist available.
The group founded REACH Health in 2006, and now the Alpharetta-based company employs about 40 people and works with more than 140 hospitals around the country.
“We had customers before we had a company,” said Hess, chairman of the neurology department at the university’s medical college. “We always wanted to be a Georgia company.”
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