When Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act in the midst of the Civil War, he probably wasn't thinking about solid-state laser systems for flow cytometry equipment or how they might benefit the diagnosis of AIDS patients.
But the president was thinking of a fundamental shift in higher education from classical studies to applied — and shared — research.
The shift continues. The new definitions are being wrought, perhaps appropriately, on the site of the old South Farms, where the sharing of the work of agricultural sciences has been replaced by several hundred thousand square feet of office space. Wet labs, white lab coats and business suits exist in clean, air-filtered rooms on land where not long ago barns and bovine, with their heady redolence and Carharted caretakers, were the order of the day.
Tim Hoerr recognizes the genius of the Morrill Act's ever-evolving charter.
New business are "incubated" at the EnterpriseWorks building in the University of Illinois' South Research Park.
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"There's been a gap between where technology ends up at a university and where it needs to go to become commercially viable," Hoerr said. "That is changing å has changed — at the U of I. These guys understand what it takes, and they're doing it."
Hoerr should know. He is chief executive officer of iCyt (pronounced "eyesight") Visionary Bioscience and iCyt Mission Technology. The first company specializes in biological cell sorting and analysis. The second distributes a solid-state laser system for flow cytometry. The lasers are a revolutionary technology for sorting and analyzing cell characteristics with implications for identification and diagnosis of diseases, among other uses.
Both are fruits of the research of University of Illinois entrepreneur Gary Durack, who remains chief technology officer for the companies.
The firm is one of the many poster children being raised at the UI Research Park, the most visible piece of a tech-transfer enterprise whose many arms and elements represent a sea change in the way the University conducts the public service of getting technology from the lab to marketplace.
It began with marching orders from the state in 1998 in the form of legislation formally promulgating the fourth mission of the University: "To broaden and strengthen the development of the Illinois and U.S. economies through the effective management, transfer and commercialization of University-based technologies and intellectual properties, supporting the creation of jobs, careers, business and wealth, while fostering the continuous advancement of the University's premier education and research programs."
The march began with the 21st century as construction got under way in March 2000 on the South Research Park southwest of the Assembly Hall. That beginning was followed by the creation of IllinoisVENTURES, a business development office with a collection of experienced talent focused on the formation and growth of new companies; the reorganization of the UI Office of Technology Management, geared to identifying and licensing marketable ideas emerging from offices and labs; and the building of an "incubator" building called EnterpriseWorks in the South Research Park to house these budding businesses.
The state continued its commitment, providing millions of dollars to help build not only the incubator, but also the $73.5 million Post Genomic Institute, the $80 million Siebel Center for Computer Science, the $30 million National Center for Supercomputing Applications building and the $18 million expansion of the Micro and Nanotechnology Labora-tory, not to mention several endeavors on the Chicago campus.
Together, the enterprises represent what UI officials like to call a robust and seamless system of resources for the diverse array of faculty researchers and students with ideas looking for an outlet.
"It's been a remarkable period of progress in just a few short years," said Michael Fritz, director of the Office of Technology Management and former chief executive officer of Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. "Our office was reborn. The whole enterprise was reborn."
"It's a new era," added John Banta '83 BUS, CEO and managing director of IllinoisVENTURES. "You look at the billions of federal research dollars the U of I is attracting, the leadership in medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, computer science, software. And yet, historically, we've not been particularly good at technology transfer. There was a missing piece. That was business development. ... Now we've got people on board who've made careers out of starting and building businesses. They know what it means to carry boxes across the room and meet a payroll.
"Early-stage business development is not a passive process," he said. "It's rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty."
The evolution of the tech-transfer process at the U of I comes with a cultural shift on the part of faculty, too.
No longer an afterthought, the whole subject of commercialization potential has become part of the faculty recruitment process. Candidates want to know how the University can help.
"Now we have some good answers," Fritz said.
Those answers impressed iCyt.
The company moved into the UI South Research Park in February 2002 with four employees. The two firms together now have 24 employees and occupy 9,000 square feet in the park's "I" building. They've also been assisted over the last two years by students from engineering and finance.
"That part's been great," Hoerr said. "Students can hop on a bike and get out here and get paid for hands-on experience in a real-life enterprise."
With existing and developing contracts with chemical and medical instrument companies in the offing, iCyt is now working with the park's developer to take up to 20,000 square feet for light manufacturing in another new building currently being planned.
"We'll add maybe 10 more people in the next year, and in the next two years, anything goes," Hoerr said of his companies' potential. "We've got critical mass and are now positioned for some very interesting things.
"We wouldn't have gotten where we are without IllinoisVENTURES," he said. "They not only invested money, but business guidance as well, plus they've brought companies to us.
"This is what scientific research is supposed to be all about."
