X. Developing a TT team

Not all R&D groups can afford the "luxury" of a person or group of people whose primary or sole responsibility is technology transfer, although as of this writing, it is considered a very important function. All too often, the task is simply added to the responsibilities of one of the investigators, or even of the Director. But a recent survey of Rehabilitation Engineering Centers (REC's) across the nation showed that the amount of successful TT accomplished is determined primarily by whether there is a person specifically assigned to do only TT.

If you are given that assignment, you may not get to select the members of your group (if you have one). In fact, you may find that some of the existing personnel are simply assigned to spend a certain percentage of their time working in your group. On the other hand, if you do get the opportunity to form a group of your own, it is important to make a first cut at how you want that group to operate and what expertise that operation will require.

Since TT is certainly not a science, and is largely based upon communication skills, experience, and contacts, as well as knowledge of the technology, it is not easy to specify the best types of people that one would ideally want in a TT group. However, since it must be a team effort in most cases, it is essential that the members of the team respect one another, as well as the investigators and their work, and that they work well together. There will certainly be "lone rangers" out there in the rest of the organization, but such individuals do not generally contribute as much to the TT effort as others.

It is clearly advantageous to have people who have already had experience in at least some aspects of TT, as well as sufficient technical knowledge to speak intelligently about the devices or technologies to be transferred. On the other hand, one should keep in mind that no one will have the detailed knowledge of the inventor or developer, which will most likely be needed at some point before transfer can be successfully accomplished. For this reason, our TT group does not usually pursue TT opportunities for a product whose developer or principal investigator is no longer working here at the Center. If that person is now at a different institution, we may suggest that the interested company contact him/her directly. It is unrealistic to expect TT team members to be experts on every product being developed.

Somehow, within the TT group one needs to have available some level of expertise on all of the subjects discussed in this booklet, whether through direct experience, training, or education of the group members themselves, or through consultants or an Advisory Board. (Having all three is certainly possible and beneficial). In this particular RR&D Center, we are fortunate in that many of the investigators themselves are not only well trained technically, but also have had personal experience in some aspects of TT. This may be in the form of running a business, developing and licensing a product, taking out a patent, or actually developing and transferring a product of their own design. Further, most of our investigators are quite experienced at making technical presentations (a definite plus for successful TT).

Some of the more subtle, although very important, requirements are the ability to communicate in laymans terms with people unfamiliar with the field, the willingness and ability to strike up conversations with likely collaborators or licensees who may be total strangers, and the ability to see connections between people or organizations (and their technologies) and what they might be able to accomplish together in TT.

As to the most desirable size of a TT team, it will of course depend upon the size and nature of the technical side of the organization it serves, and upon its productivity in terms of things that need TT activity. In other words, the size will be dictated primarily by the TT workload. But I would think the minimum size would be one person full time, assuming a lot of cooperation from investigators, and a largely advisory role for the one TT Officer. On the other hand, the TT team can be too large to work effectively together. Our team in this TT Section has generally consisted of one Chief and five other people, all part time. All of us, with one exception, have strong backgrounds in engineering, some in research, some in design, and each has had personal experience in at least one aspect of TT. The other person is an Information Specialist who is essential for the preparation of professional materials for distribution in connection with TT activities. The total TT effort was at its peak at a level of 3.6 Full-time Equivalents (FTE), and served a technical team of about 50 investigators, including technical, design, and laboratory personnel.