U-M's tech transfer director says innovation = economic recovery; Xconomy takes note

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | Source: Xconomy

It's easy to say the road to economic recovery starts with new innovation. University of Michigan tech transfer guru Ken Nisbet tells us how in a recent Q&A with Xconomy.

Excerpt:

With an annual research budget of more than $1 billion, the University of Michigan is a leading hub of new technological inventions and entrepreneurship. It’s serving as a wellspring of new ideas and startups that are helping to lead the economic recovery in the Great Lakes State.

Ken Nisbet plays a key role in advancing technologies developed on campus in Ann Arbor to the marketplace. He’s the executive director of tech transfer at the university, and his office often serves as a conduit between the academic inventors and the business community (composed of corporations, venture investors, and entrepreneurs) that can provide the financing and other resources to commercialize technologies.

Nisbet, 60, joined the tech transfer team at the university in 1996 after a career in various engineering and marketing positions at Ford Motor Company, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Nortel. (He also bleeds maize and blue, having received both his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and his MBA from U-M.)

Read the rest of the story here.