Oct 20, 2007 - 09:00 AM

By Izabela Jaroszynski

DURHAM -- Michael Szarka is the university’s equivalent of a matchmaker.

As manager at the technology transfer and commercialization office at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, he is responsible for taking the ideas that come out of research labs and finding a home for them within the commercial marketplace.

Hired two years ago to manage technology and intellectual property, Mr. Szarka speaks the language of the researcher and that of the businessman. And he is responsible for bridging the two.

“It’s absolutely unprecedented,” he said of his recent appointment. “Never, ever, anywhere would you have a two-year-old university hiring an intellectual property manager.”

Most start-up universities first concentrate on building up the undergraduate programs and then move into graduate studies -- which foster independent research projects.

But UOIT is not one to follow the crowd. From the get-go, the mission of the university has been to conduct market-driven research that specifically meets the needs of Durham Region and Northumberland County. Research is conducted at all levels of study, not just the graduate, and the university strives to create a culture where research is encouraged.

“Research is part of the teaching mission,” Mr. Szarka said. “You can’t teach someone how to be a scientist or an engineer at the leading edge unless they know how to grapple with the unknown. Research is the only way to do that. It is these bright people with advanced degrees who are going to be the primary agent of transforming the local community.”

But just how will the research currently being conducted at the university impact the region?

According to Kamiel Gabriel, the associate provost of research, success at UOIT will have a domino effect.

Through continued research, the university will make a name for itself. Once it is known for its strength in a certain area, such as alternative energy, UOIT will lure high-tech companies to the region. Those companies will provide good-paying jobs locally, which in turn will elevate the status of existing companies and increase their competitiveness.

“It will bring prosperity for the region,” Dr. Gabriel says.

He says UOIT’s focus is to solve real societal issues that make a difference in the region’s economy, which means the institution’s research programs concentrate on areas of economic strength for Durham.

“We look at it in terms of tangibles: how is your research transforming society? How is it dealing with societal problems,” he said. “We are targeting real problems and providing, hopefully, some real solutions. And through that, we bring prosperity here.”

While the mission of the university is to market the ‘big’ ideas from leading-edge researchers, UOIT’s research-to-commercialization cycle is exemplified by one simple business project: the Kool Plate.

Just this past summer, the technology transfer and commercialization office received approval of its first patent. The product is a simple idea that grew out of necessity for the university’s provost Richard Marceau.

Dr. Marceau originally designed the Kool Plate -- a ribbed plate that is placed under laptop computers or portable DVD players to keep users comfortable and ensure proper cooling of electronic equipment -- for his own use, but soon realized it had market potential. He perfected it over the years and is now bringing it to market through UOIT.

Over the summer, Tom Claydon -- a graduate of the Bachelor of Commerce program at UOIT -- was hired to develop a business plan to take the invention from prototype to profit.

Together, Dr. Marceau and Mr. Claydon are engaged in a continuum of research that is at the heart of the university’s mission. The product will continue to foster partnership as it is manufactured and sold locally.

While Dr. Marceau says he is happy to have his invention finally available to the public, his greatest pride comes from the example the Kool Plate project sets for future commercialization of the research projects happening at the university.

“Our commitment is to turn those innovative ideas into reality,” he said.

Dr. Marceau says UOIT is not unique in its efforts to market research -- in fact, it is a university’s responsibility to foster innovation -- but he says Ontario’s newest university is different because it takes researchers out of their silos and encourages cooperation within the school and with the community.

“We can’t exist in a vacuum,” he said. “If partnership is not happening at the university, in the academic sphere, then where?”