U-M working to expand industry partnerships

When Ford formed a partnership with the University last year to develop innovative automotive technologies, the company agreed to provide $2 million by February 2008.

Marvin Parnes, associate vice president for research and executive director of research administration, talks with Gerhard Schmidt, vice president of research and advanced engineering, Ford Motor Co., at the June 12 meeting of the Ford-U-M Innovation Alliance, which is working to develop more powerful and durable batteries for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, and new collision-avoidance technologies. (Photo by Scott Galvin, U-M Photo Services)

But the Dearborn-based automaker already has delivered more than $3 million to the fledgling Ford-U-M Innovation Alliance, largely because the arrangement is working even better than expected, says Edward Krause, external alliances manager at Ford Motor Co.

"Things are going so well at Michigan that we're actually getting extra money beyond what the company originally committed to, and we are going to be pushing for an expanded presence at U-M," Krause said while in Ann Arbor for a June 12 meeting of the alliance's executive committee.

Krause attributes part of the partnership's success to a "very noticeable change in attitude" at the University in recent years.

"Seven years ago, Michigan was one of the more difficult schools to deal with, even for a company as close as Ford," Krause says. "It's the opposite of an entitlement mentality now. They try much harder. And this is not lost on industry partners."

"Now I would say that Michigan is actually very much among the leaders and has a chance to become the leader, as far as innovative ways of working with industry."

That's just the type of endorsement that Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest is eager to hear. Forrest is leading a campuswide effort to enhance U-M ties with industry.

"I very much want to see the U-M enlarge its role in building strong partnerships with industry," Forrest says. "As a public institution, I think we have a particular responsibility to help the state and region by effectively deploying our leading edge science and technology."

He organized two recent campus town-hall meetings to discuss the issue and to present the findings of two committees that examined the topic of University-industry relations.

The committees concluded, among other things, that interactions between industry and U-M researchers must be streamlined, and that incentives for faculty inventors who work with industry must be sweetened.

Historically, many U-M researchers have viewed industrial partnerships as less reliable and less stable long-term funding sources than federal grants from agencies like the National Science Foundation.

But several changes are in the works, and some already have been implemented, says Kenneth Nisbet, executive director of the Office of Technology Transfer.

For example, the University adopted a new technology transfer policy Jan. 1 that provides greater rewards to faculty inventors. Under the new policy, inventors with an ownership stake in a company that licenses U-M-developed technology no longer are required to waive their share of University revenues from the licensee.

"We know it's important to enhance our relationships with industry, so we want to provide incentives and resources to bridge the gap," Nisbet says.

Traditionally, most relationships between industry and the University have involved a single U-M researcher working to solve a narrowly focused problem. A much more broad-based approach is needed, bringing together groups of scientists and engineers from industry and the University, says Dr. James Baker Jr., professor of internal medicine and biomedical engineering.

The Ford research alliance exemplifies that type of broad-based approach. The University has formed similar partnerships with General Electric, General Motors and ARM Ltd., says Daryl Weinert, senior director of corporate and government relations at the College of Engineering.

The Ford-U-M Innovation Alliance teams more than a dozen U-M faculty members with some 20 Ford scientists and engineers to work on 10 projects.

"This rounds out a wonderfully robust relationship between Ford and the University that's gone on for over 50 years," says Susan Shields, the University's senior director for corporate and foundation relations.

The year-old Ford-U-M alliance includes efforts to develop more powerful and durable batteries for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as new collision-avoidance technologies.

"Forging this new relationship with Ford is important to the U-M," says Marvin Parnes, the associate vice president for research. "Ford is a natural research partner for us, and I'm gratified that the alliance is off to such a fast start. Plus, we can point to this program as an example of what the University wants to accomplish across the board."

Ford operates similar academic partnerships with MIT and Northwestern University.