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innovationUTAH.com

Linking Utah's Innovation Community

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Utah Science, Technology and Research (USTAR) Initiative?

USTAR is an innovative, aggressive and far-reaching effort to bolster Utah's economy with high- paying jobs and keep the state vibrant and competitive in the Knowledge Age.

USTAR was developed by Utah's business leaders in collaboration with the Governor's Office, economic development leaders, key legislators, and university leaders. The initiative is based on three program areas:

 

2. Why is USTAR important?

Utah's economic future is at stake. Without a carefully planned strategy, Utah will certainly grow, but not with high-paying jobs that support a family and that generate sufficient tax revenues to support our large education burden. While it has been rising, Utah's average salary is still below the national average.

 

Low salaries have social consequences: more families needing multiple incomes to survive economically, higher bankruptcy rates, the lowest per-pupil education spending in the nation. We ought to aspire to be a high-wage state.

 

 

3. How can USTAR increase our average salaries?

High salaries are found in advanced technology companies. For example in a recent survey, the average salary in the IT industry in Utah is 75% higher than the statewide average wage. IT accounts for only 3.7% of Utah jobs, but 6.5% of total wages.

 

 

4. How will USTAR create high-tech jobs? What are USTAR’s Innovation Focus areas?

World-class research teams are being recruited to Utah and developed internally in carefully-targeted disciplines with multi-billion dollar markets where Utah already has distinct competitive advantages, such as genomics and personalized medicine. These teams will develop products and services that can be commercialized in new businesses and industries, creating high-paying jobs and increasing Utah's tax revenue. The Innovation Focus areas that USTAR research targets include:

 

 

5. How will the entire state benefit from USTAR?

All areas of the state benefit from five Innovation Centers, located strategically throughout the state, which support the needs of local businesses and connect them to USTAR research and development projects and other resources. These centers are managed under the Technology Outreach and Innovation program (TOIP).

 

 

6. How many professors will be involved in the USTAR program?

The University of Utah and Utah State University have identified faculty hiring focus areas, and as of December 2008, 22 senior faculty were in place. The focus areas represent existing research strengths and have high potential for economic impact and commercialization opportunities. Each focus area has identified a team of faculty who will be the core recruiting team. 

 

We anticipate hiring on average four new professors for each focus area to compliment and add to the talent pool of the focus area, attract additional grant funding, increase the number of patent disclosures, licenses, and number of spin-off companies from the university.

 

 

7. How are they chosen? What qualifications are you looking for?

Each focus area has a hiring committee tasked to seek out and interview talent that are at the top of their field, or are considered up and coming in the field. For the “up and coming” faculty, they look for individuals who are protégés of nationally recognized researchers.

 

The hiring committees look for professors that fit different roles. They might be the thought leader in research in their area, or they might by funding “rainmakers” in which they are very successful in attracting research funding, or they might have a track record of invention and commercialization with success in spinning off companies fro their research areas.

 

We are looking to hire individuals that compliment each other as an interdisciplinary research and development team and can successfully move forward the purpose of USTAR.

 

 

8. What has been the response of these professors when asked to be a part of USTAR?

For the faculty members who have chosen to bring their research and teams to Utah, the response has been positive. They are excited about the support that the State is providing to advance the Knowledge Economy in Utah. As one can imagine, not all faculty who are initially identified for recruitment will decide to come to Utah. 

 

 

9. What types of businesses can be spun off from their specific research?

Not all of the researchers' ideas will lead to new companies. Some research that results in patent applications will be best suited for licensing by existing companies. We will be marketing the research and development strengths of the team to existing Utah businesses and we encourage them to sponsor research and / or license the technologies to improve already existing products or platforms. Royalty streams from licensing and spinoff companies will come back and benefit the university and the USTAR program. For example, USTAR faculty members are looking at companies in the carbon sequestration application of energy research and intelligent sensor space; however, as the program matures, we expect that each of the focus areas will spawn new companies.

 

 

10. What progress has been made to date in the research program area?
USTAR’s accomplishments in attracting star research talent and supporting their efforts in our key Innovation Development areas are summarized in the table here.  After two and a half years of funding, we are ahead of schedule (data as of Dec. 31, 2008):


Category

Projections for

June 30 ‘08

Actual

 (Cumulative)

Actual vs. Projections

All-star faculty hired

15

22

Ahead of plan

Ext. research grants awarded (2006 - 2008)

$2.7 mm

$3.95 mm

172%

Ext. research grants awarded (2009 - 20011)

N/A

$12.65 mm

Ahead of plan

Ext. research grants applied for

N/A

$106.3 mm

Ahead of plan

Patents filed or issued

0

10

Ahead of plan

Companies started in Utah

0

1

Ahead of plan

New companies under development

0

4

Ahead of plan

Companies brought to Utah

0

2

Ahead of plan

 

 

11. What stage of development are the USTAR research facilities in?

The USU building has completed the schematic design phase and ground breaking took place in October 2008. This building will be located in the Innovation Campus on the north side of the entire USU complex. Grammoll Construction has been competitively selected as the Construction Manager General Contractor (CMGC) as was AJC Architects as the Architectural and Engineering (AE) firm and design team lead. The facility is slated to open in 2011. 

 

At the U of U, the CMGC is Layton Construction, Inc. and the AE is Lord Aeck Sargent (with local collaboration with Prescott Muir). Ground breaking took place on Earth Day - April 22, 2009 - and construction is set to complete in 2012. The USTAR facility is part of the U of U’s recently updated Campus Master Plan and will anchor a new research complex. The usage needs currently identified, include a nanofabrication facility, vivarium, imaging, and brain science facilities, among others.

 

To meet the current space needs of the USTAR faculty at U of U, the university has purchased the NPS building. The U of U plans to house between 7-10 faculty in the building in the short term and will be remodeling the 2d floor of this 3-story building to create lab space where offices currently exist.

 

 

12. What purposes will the USTAR research facilities serve? How will this benefit researchers? Local businesses? Taxpayers?

When you recruit all-star faculty, they ask the question, "Where will I be working?" To recruit world-class faculty, you need to have world-class facilities. Historically, University research facilities have not been as interdisciplinary as they need to be and they have not been focused on developmental and commercial-type outcomes. These buildings will provide the necessary resources to further innovative research. They are also intended to serve as industry magnets to foster collaboration between commerce and academia.

 

 

13. When are the USTAR research facilities scheduled to be finished?

The USU facility is slated to open in 2011. The University of Utah facility is set to complete in 2012.

 

 

14. How long before USTAR University technologies are commercialized and reach the market?

It takes a few years for new technology to be developed and go through the commercialization process. We expect to start seeing emerging technologies commercialized within about four years.

 

 

15. What benefits will Utah taxpayers experience through USTAR initiatives? When will they begin to see these benefits?

 

 

16. What value does USTAR offer now that Universities couldn’t before?

 

17. What is the purpose of the Technology Outreach and Innovation Program (TOIP)?

TOIP supports the accomplishment of the financial, employment, and research objectives of USTAR through the application of deep business, leadership, and functional expertise to the most promising opportunities and focus areas.

 

The USTAR team brings diverse expertise and skills to help clients meet technology commercialization and business growth needs. Our management team offers clients a fresh perspective grounded in decades of corporate and public sector experience.

 

Tech Outreach directors have in-depth knowledge of the businesses and technological needs in their regions, and are good ‘economic matchmakers,’ connecting the people with innovative technology with the people that can use it or fund it.

 

 

18. What areas are each of the TOIP directors focusing on? 

In general TOIP directors facilitate collaboration between State’s public research universities to regional applied technology centers, colleges, universities, businesses and entrepreneurs. From a functional standpoint – working with specific companies, entrepreneurs, and innovators - our management team can help clients address the issues in:

From a vertical industry standpoint, our experts bring a breadth and depth of knowledge in multiple areas, including:

The tools our directors bring to solving organizational and product development issues include:

 

19. How does TOIP support university researchers?

TOIP teams work with the USTAR research teams on an ongoing basis. They help university researchers reach the marketplace through commercialization of technologies. Our directors also connect industry with research universities to promote collaboration.

 

 

20. What successes are the TOIP directors finding?
Dozens of up-and-coming companies that show great potential have benefited from engagement with USTAR’s TOIP. As of Dec. 31, 2009, USTAR has made impressive progress in building entrepreneurial and innovation capacity statewide. To date, more than 240 companies received material support from TOIP.

Other strategic initiatives that TOIP has successfully fostered in its first 18 months include:

 

 

21. Is there anything else you think would be helpful for people to understand as we update the progress of USTAR?

We are currently refining the strategy for each of the initial focus areas, to guide us in the hiring process and the development and commercialization of each focus area.

 

We are currently working on the design and construction of new interdisciplinary research buildings at University of Utah and Utah State where the USTAR faculty and their teams will be housed. We hope these buildings will be magnets for industry collaboration and community interest. We welcome input from the business community, particularly if your area of interest matches up with existing research focus areas.

 

Our website will be regularly updated with the current information on USTAR and we welcome people to sign up for our periodic newsletters.

 

We welcome discussion with industry and the university communities on how we can better partner and maximize the efforts of this initiative.

 

 

22. What are neighboring states doing along the lines of funding research, development and commercialization?