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How Do I Find UA Research Expertise?
How Do I License UA Technologies?
Local and national companies are essential partners in OTT's mission of ensuring that the University of Arizona's intellectual property and other innovations are further developed and made available to the public. Industry-University partnerships take many forms, and in those most significantly involving OTT companies act as sponsors and collaborators in research; as licensees of patents, computer software, and other UA intellectual property; and as partners in economic development.
Industry sponsored research is important because it permits UA investigators and their students to focus on a quest for both fundamental understanding and practical application in a particular area. The structure of these interactions can include traditional contracts for research services and sub-contracts under Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants from one of several federal agencies. Companies can search by keyword for relevant expertise at UA and then initiate contracts for research services through the Office of Contract and Research Analysis (ORCA). OTT assists ORCA when unusual intellectual property terms are called.
Intellectual property created in a basic research environment is often the seed of a new product or service useful to the public. But it sometimes requires further development, financing, "productization," marketing, manufacturing, and distribution activities that are better suited to the private sector than to a public university. OTT licenses UA intellectual property to start-up and mature companies that desire to diligently undertake those activities as part of a business opportunity.
Beyond its role in sponsored research contracting and intellectual property licensing, OTT partners with companies and organizations to foster economic development in the region and the nation. For example, OTT is an active member of the Southern Arizona Technology Council (SATC), participates regularly in joint activities with Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. (TREO), and welcomes further opportunities to use University of Arizona innovations for the purpose of economic development.
