Think for a moment about the pressing issues of our time. These include sustainable energy, cures for cancer and neodegenerative diseases, and economic diversity to insure access to good jobs for Florida citizens. Others will come up with other critical items, but progress on just these three is a big deal. And progress is being made by UCF faculty, staff, and students. (See the articles in this edition of IMPACT!)

Since the addition of the term “commercialization” to the name of this office I have heard some rumblings about the “selling out” of research to big business and/or big money. Are we deviating from the university’s mission of teaching, research and service? I say not. We are free to pursue scholarship without regard to commercial benefit. However we are obligated to share the knowledge and creative works we develop through appropriate venues including peer-reviewed literature and our classrooms. But this should not always be the end of the story.

For those Star Trek fans among you I am reminded of a species aboard “Deep Space Nine” called the Ferengi. The “Ferengi Rules of Acquisition” spells out, via a series of 285 axioms, how to succeed in business by stiffing anybody who stands in the way. I would hope that those of us who are intent on advocating commercialization as a way of bettering our institution and our community are philosophical “anti-Ferengis.” Commercialization is, in a sense, our contribution as researchers to society.

Sometimes a simple example is better then a deep philosophical argument. Consider the Gossamer Wind ceiling fan, an invention of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), licensed by UCF for commercial production and sale. The university gets some income from this invention but consider this: This product has saved consumers more than $12 million in energy costs since it became available. This is about a quarter of a million barrels of oil (in today’s prices) not burned! I am exceptionably proud of our efforts to make that technology commercially available.

UCF is hosting the technology transfer conference involving all of Florida’s universities. This is an effort to have new knowledge developed by our scholars put to work in building successful companies in Florida. If we do a good job of this then the citizens will probably be more willing to pay the taxes that support higher education in our state. And our sons and daughters will not have to leave the state to get a good job. If we do a good job of commercialization of our research then we will have a great positive IMPACT on our society.

To do anything less is akin to preparing a great feast but failing to serve it. Cheers!

mj@mail.ucf.edu