“With the Innovation Enterprise model, we see the university taking an exciting new path to proactively develop and showcase the innovations and knowledge being developed at the U of S,” said U of S Vice-President Research Karen Chad in announcing the new name, vision and website.
Managing director Johannes Dyring said the IE vision represents a fundamental shift away from the old mindset of a university technology transfer office.
“A research university cannot sit back and expect that just because we have come up with a new idea or invented a new technology that the world will then beat a path to our door,” said Dyring. “We’re going to be a lot more proactive in turning great ideas into commercial solutions. We’ll actually get engaged. We will invest. We will take and manage risks, and we use innovative approaches to develop solutions.”
He points out that many researchers already have strong connections to industrial networks and know where innovations they have developed might fit into the marketplace. IE will help by providing in-house technical, legal and financial expertise to move an idea forward, possibly into a business start-up, and helping to manage, protect and market intellectual property developed by researchers.
As part of a broad consultation over many months with stakeholders in academe, government and industry, the IE team has been re-engaging with the business community to learn how specific industry research needs can be met by the university’s research cluster.
Dyring sees a large untapped potential for innovation at the U of S with its six signature research areas, its diverse research infrastructure, and the many leading researchers the university has attracted. He and his team are particularly interested in engaging students at all levels who are excited about entrepreneurship and being part of innovating.
Dyring came to the U of S from Sweden in 2015 after serving as CEO of a company established to commercialize innovations developed by the Swedish University of Agriculture. Previously, he co-founded and developed high-tech and knowledge-intensive organizations. He is an International Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry.
He describes the new IE vision in a video on the new IE website at: www.research.usask.ca/ie
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For more information, contact:
Johannes Dyring
Managing Director
U of S Innovation Enterprise
306-966-7829
johannes.dyring@usask.cawww.research.usask.ca/ie