Health care organizations looking to bolster their tech transfer efforts may want to study the University of Minnesota’s strategy, which culminated this last week with the opening of a new $400,000 Medical Devices Center. The center will be a hub for faculty, students, and companies looking to translate high-concept research into revenues, jobs, and businesses. It addresses what some see as one of the most glaring problems at the university. Despite a world-class medical school that pioneered open heart surgery and developed the battery-powered pacemaker, little of its medical technology in recent years has successfully made its way into the market. “A lot of inventions take place at the [university] but don’t go anywhere,” said Gerry Timm, an associate director for external relations at the school’s Institute for Engineering and Medicine. Part of the problem is that the school’s enormous size makes collaboration difficult, said Art Erdman, a mechanical engineering professor and director of the Medical Devices Center. “I see so much talent, but how do you bring all of these people together?” Erdman said. The new center will put students and faculty from various programs such as the medical school and electrical engineering under one roof, he noted. For instance, engineering students at the center can watch live surgeries performed at the medical school on a high-definition monitor. By observing the operation in 3D, the students can design better instruments by knowing how such tools interact with the human body. The center is also launching a one-year fellowship program that will pair postgraduate engineering students with industry veterans and doctors to develop and test medical devices. Erdman says the center will partner closely with the school’s Office of Technology Commercialization to see whether the inventions can be licensed or spun off. “I think [that office] will play a critical role,” Erdman said. “They need to be fed [a continuing supply of innovations].” Go to: Star Tribune

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