Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Dr. Maureen Kilkenny conducted a series of reports (under peer review process but available on demand). In the first study, she expolored methods for identifying which universities in the twelve state region are more adept at which disciplines (comparative advantage). In the second study, she inventoried current technology transfer practices in an attempt to determine whether any current efforts could be "scaled up" to the region. She concluded that many positive examples can be found in the region, but that individual states would first need to invest in better in-state systems before a joint & highly coordinated scaled up twelve-state effort could be effective (12 state effort needs partners in each state). She also identified MarketMaker (an online producer-customer matching tool initiated by U. Illinois but now available in several states) as an example stakeholder oriented effort that could be used for research or technology diffusion under certain conditions. She recommended strengthening MarketMaker. Martin Kenny's presentation showed that patent ownership patterns may present a barrier to their development. Under the current prevailing system, ownership transfers to the host institution. He studied development at Waterloo University (Canada) after they changed their policy to allow faculty to maintain control of the patents. Overall research activities grew substantially after the change; more so than similar universities with no policy change. The presentation by the Agricultural Research Service indicated substantial opportunities for LGU partnerships with that agency. The ARS is now much more oriented towards stakeholder input on technical needs and then assembling appropriate teams of ARS and non-ARS researchers to address issues.

Dr. Kilkenny presented a summary of her results to webinar for Experiment Station Directors and Associate Directors. (Reports are available on demand and being revised for submission to peer reviewed outlet.) Her work served as a catalyst for a more refined approach to ag-technology diffusion. This year, Steven Gasteyer and colleagues from University of Nebraska are going to trace the evolution of how information about water moved from research to stakeholder settings across the past several decades. We are also initiating a new webinar series, "Innovations in Agriculture" to feature researchers from the twelve state regions and connect them with agricultural enterprises in the region in beyond via social media. Finally, we provided support for efforts to enhance MarketMaker. We assisted development of a new software platform that should reduce the costs of the system and developed a feasibility study for adding a labor component to the current of data, which focuses on sales of product. The new component, if added, will allow laborers and producers to more easily find each other during peak periods of labor need.

Kilkenny, M. Sponsored Research Specialties of North-Central Land Grant Universities. NCRCRD Report. Kilkenny, M. Exemplary Knowledge Transfer Activities at Land Grant Universities in the North Central Region. NCRCRD Report. Kilkenny, M. Facilitating Tech Transfer Region-Wide: Business Models. NCRCRD Report. Kilkenny, M. Facilitating Tech Transfer Region-Wide: Funding. NCRCRD Report. Kilkenny, M. Facilitating Tech Transfer Region-Wide: Surveys. NCRCRD Report. Lee, Jong S. Final Report on Investigating Better Alternative for MarketMaker Database. Hansen, R., Tordsen, C. and Herrman, I. MarketMaker Job Board.