UCF joined other Florida universities to make the case for high technology industry in the state at the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) annual conference held at Disney's ContemporaryÒ Resort in February.

The conference kicked off with an invitation-only reception put on by the Florida research universities in conjunction with Enterprise Florida and law firm Akerman Senterfitt. Throughout the evening, potential commercialization partners were given the opportunity to learn details about the array of new discoveries being generated by Florida universities.

More than 1,400 association members from more than 25 countries offered seminars, classes and speeches covering the world of university technology transfer and related industries. UCF's Office of Research participated in the networking fair, which featured more than 30 exhibitors and 35 universities. The Office of Research and the UCF Technology Incubator co-sponsored an exhibit including interactive displays of some of UCF's most successful tech-transfer products. One of those successes, the Gossamer Wind ceiling fan created by Florida Solar Energy Center researcher Danny Parker, was featured as a door prize in the Florida research universities reception.

"During the conference, UCF was able to showcase its technology and the close cooperation that exists between the Office of Research and UCF's Technology Incubator," said Herb Winfield, UCF's associate director for technology transfer. "This is important because it shows our commitment to move technology from the lab to commerce, using the Technology Incubator as a catalyst."

According to a survey conducted using data from AUTM's FY 2000 Annual AUTM Licensing Survey, approximately 20 percent of the $1 billion spent on research expenditures in Florida in 2000 was spent by private industry to support Florida university research (and acquire commercial rights to research inventions), thus providing a clear path to technology transfer for the benefit of the public. The federal government provided approximately 60 percent of the research funding with the remainder coming from state governments, private foundations, internal funds and associations.

Many new high-tech start-up companies are springing up around the state including Optium Inc., a fiber-optic company that was started in Central Florida because of the strength of the research being conducted at UCF. Utilizing UCF photonics technology, the young company was able to secure $50 million in start-up funds, strengthening the region's high-tech sector and contributing high-skill, high-wage jobs to the economy.