University Spin-Off Companies

University-based research is increasingly leading to business opportunities beyond academia. Notable examples include Hewlett Packard from Stanford University and Digital Equipment Corp. from MIT. This volume explores this emerging phenomenon in order to offer an efficient solution to the problem of launching academic ventures. The 14 contributions to University Spin-off Companies provide an overview of the opportunities in and obstacles to creating spin-off ventures and consider case studies from several universities. The contributors believe that greater emphasis on spin-off ventures will allow the nation's universities to play a vital role in increasing industrial competitiveness, creating wealth for the community, providing greater returns on our investment in higher education and enhancing the traditional knowledge-generating role of the university sector.

Alistair Brett is director of the Office of Technology Transfer and Management at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. He has also served as a consultant to Control Data Corporation's Business and Technology Centers division.

David V. Gibson is Assistant Professor in the Department of Management Science and Information Systems in the College and Graduate School of Business and a Research Fellow at IC2 Institute, the University of Texas at Austin. He is the editor of Technology, Companies and Global Markets, (Rowman & Littlefield, 1991).

Raymond W. Smilor is the Executive Director and the Judson Neff Centennial Fellow at IC2 Institute.