1. INNOVATION
Points for consideration

2. Outcomes of Breakout
Hope to accomplish a several outcomes:
1. Continue progress from the morning discussions
2. Better understand innovation at university level
3. Better understand the limitations
Ultimate Goal
Leave with a realistic view of what is possible and
what where to focus attention

3. WHERE DOES INNOVATION
COME FROM?

4. Research
Advantages
• Part of the core mission of most of our universities
• Great thinkers and innovators who have ability to devote time
• Enthusiastic labor force of RAs, grad students, post-docs
• Often have access to government funds
Challenges
• Not good at getting new ideas "off the lab bench” (not trained to
bring solutions to market)
• Theoretical research; rewards and incentives are towards
academic papers, not usable solutions
• Completely different skill set to be an entrepreneur
• Shrinking funding base from many governments

5. Academic training
Advantages
• New ideas can be incorporated into coursework to challenge
students to think creatively in analytic sand problem solving
• Hands-on experiential learning becoming more popular
• Research for student projects can complement needs of
practitioners in the field
• Can use the campus to testing new approaches, providing
insight, feedback and practical field testing
Challenges
• Takes more time to prepare students to think creatively and
analytically to solve real world problems
• Physical limitations to using the campus as a learning lab

6. Collaboration
Advantages
• An area of growing importance for universities – especially
local and regional partnerships
• Sharing operational strategies can provide new insights
• More likely to take some risks when know there is a broader
support network with professional expertise and advice
• Sum is greater than the whole
Challenges
• Still have a "first mover" risk – the first to try a new technology
is the one that takes the majority of risk for failure.
• Collaborative may wait for someone else to start.
• Coordination is time consuming, and often considered outside
scope of regular duties.