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| Texas NanoEnergy Collaborative |
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Crossing the Chasm
The collaboration between university researchers, clean energy applications experts, and technology adopters like NASA will help nanotechnology innovations "cross the chasm."
The field of nanotechnology is widely anticipated to be an important driver of future economic activity and wealth creation. In fact, several companies have already been spun out from Rice University's nanotechnology program, and more will likely follow. However, almost all university developed technologies follow a challenging path from laboratory to commercial success. Most challenging is the so-called "chasm" where good technologies struggle because they have not been demonstrated, evaluated, and scaled up sufficiently to convince capital providers and early adopters to support their entry into the market.
As a non-profit organization, HARC provides a valuable link in the technology commercialization process. While neither focused on basic research or on business incubation per se, HARC's role is to bridge the "chasm" to provide vital support for promising technologies. This role is often referred to as a "boundary" organization. As a boundary organization, HARC works to bridge the gulf in expertise, approach, and perspective between researchers and practitioners. The characteristic approaches used by boundary organizations, which are highlighted in the graphic below, are intended to facilitate the transfer of information between producers and users. By focusing on market demand, HARC will provide a vital feedback loop to university research teams.
HARC is a "boundary" organization that works between producers of knowledge in the scientific community and the users of knowledge.
In addition, HARC's technical role helps improve and refine the technology transferred to early adopters and commercialization entities (NASA, DOD, private capital providers, marketers). This process can make research more accessible, data more reliable, and increase understanding of emerging technologies. The need for researchers to understand the commercial goal early in the process and for adopters to obtain greater clarity regarding the status of technology is vital for rapid technology adoption.
Moving Science to Technology
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| Page Updated/Reviewed: 08/01/2007 9:29 AM |
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