Article,
Frederick Cottrell in the 1912 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry : Laying the Foundations of University Technology Transfer
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 43 (4): 839--846 (February 2004)
DOI: 10.1021/ie0307129
Abstract
This paper discusses a discourse by Frederick Cottrell in the 1912 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, which analyzed the formation of the Research Corporation, an organization that was in many ways a forerunner of the modern university technology transfer offices of today. The Research Corporation and university technology transfer offices present contrasting methods of encouraging university science; however, both encounter problems that have attracted significant academic comment. The impact of the Research Corporation decreased with the passing of the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, a piece of legislation that encouraged technology transfer from within U.S. universities, a direction that Cottrell had deliberately eschewed 68 years previously. The Bayh-Dole Act has influenced university technology transfer protocols across the world; however, many believe that the conflicts first described by Cottrell detrimentally affect the culture and norms of academic research today. This paper first explores the historical context of Cottrell's initial thesis, second analyzes the Bayh-Dole Act, the decline of the Research Corporation, and the rise of the university technology transfer offices, third reviews the literature concerning the intrinsic barriers to university technology transfer, and finally proposes that the intrinsic barriers will lessen as universities continue to evolve toward a more commercial approach to a difficult societal role.
