Preliminary results from a market analysis of the two-stroke combustion engine industry
Abstract Market research results from groups based in the university sector can often make a significant contribution to knowledge and perspectives related to complex international industrial sectors. This is particularly true when these groups have strong linkage to the industry in question and the market research forms part of a wider research programme which involves the science and engineering of the product base under investigation. Preliminary results are therefore presented from research focused on a market analysis of the two-stroke engine industry by members of a group which is concentrating its effort in this area of the combustion engine industry. The results are intended to introduce the work in progress and to highlight several aspects which form the core of the study including application areas, patent activity and industrial company identification.
The people factor in collaboration and technology transfer
Abstract A considerable amount of work has been published which focuses on trends and statistics related to technology and its transfer as a commodity from one entity to another. This work usually emanates from large companies, institutions or government establishments and is generally presented as a historical probability. In comparison, very little has been published from a ‘hands on, as it happens’ point of view, particularly from the small company sector of commerce and industry. Consequently a perspective is presented which illustrates several observations related to collaboration and technology transfer and proceeds to illustrate a suggested profile for the operative required to carry out these tasks.
A case study of technology transfer and funding mechanisms in an industrially supported multi-centred university research initiative
Abstract An initiative undertaken by research scientists in eight universities in the U.K. is described, covering a period from the embryo stage, through the early development of the initiative and on to its modification and expansion. The initiative began as an experiment and was built around an industrially important area of developing technology—synthesized carbon and diamond films. It involved the interaction of university scientists and industrialists. This paper is an overview of the progress of the initiative, the funding mechanisms involved and the wide-ranging factors which affect technology transfer between universities and industry.