The University of Idaho and private sector scientists now have an opportunity to work together on applied research, technology transfer and development projects that sustain economic growth in Idaho.
The Laboratory of Applied Science and Research (LASR), housed at the Jacklin Science Technology Center in Post Falls, is an independent not-for-profit corporation whose purpose is to support the efforts of UI, said Charles Buck, the center executive officer.
Buck said LASR makes the university’s capabilities and resources available to external partners to accomplish well-defined research projects.
“The idea is to take on short-term projects that kind of prove a concept or principle quickly, so that a corporate partner can move more rapidly than they might otherwise do,” Buck said.
Buck said because LASR was recently formed and recognized by the IRS as a tax exempt charitable organization, they have not completed any projects but are discussing a few with outside partners.
The original idea to create LASR stemmed from a previous microelectronics project, Buck said.
“Really the notion for LASR was driven by a group of community leaders who realized there were no opportunities to work with corporate partners that the university was obtaining,” Buck said.
He said motivating factors to create LASR include the size of the university and its difficulty moving “at the speed of business,” and also the issues attached to working directly with the university for a research project.
“Because it’s a state institution, the intellectual property that emerges from any project done by the university must belong to the university,” Buck said. “Some corporate partners are not interested in sponsoring research if they cannot own the intellectual property that comes out of it.”
Buck said both the state board and the university have agreed to negotiate the owner of the intellectual property on a case-by-case basis, as LASR would separate the activity from the university.
LASR is about applying expertise, technology and the know-how of the university to battle a well-defined problem, Buck said.
He said in a sense, it’s like the real world of business.
“You have a timeline for a project, and you must achieve specific milestones and report the deliverables of that research on a specific timeline, or the project is not going to continue,” Buck said.
Buck said the Business Development Forum on Wednesday in Post Falls served as a “coming out” party for LASR.
The forum is a partnership with Idaho National Laboratories that engages communities statewide to discuss its programs, and how it can work with other organizations to positively impact Idaho, said Marilyn Whitney, INL economic development specialist.
“These forums are to bring together like-minded groups to talk about ways that we can leverage one another’s capabilities and programs to make things happen for Idaho and the region’s economy,” Whitney said.
Buck said the forum enabled LASR to introduce and explain itself to the business community in North Idaho, and invite them to submit projects.
Steve McMaster, director of technology deployment for INL, said there are several capabilities INL can offer to new businesses or investors looking to help move technologies forward.
“The INL encourages learning about resources, because we’re a potential resource for these kinds of technology-based economic development efforts,” he said.
An example of an ongoing project that exemplifies how this type of partnership should work is the collaboration between Idaho Fall’s Center for Advanced Energy Studies, INL and the states three research institutions — UI, Boise State University and Idaho State University.
“All four of these entities work on collaborative research in the facility that is occupied by the Center for Advanced Energy Studies,” McMaster said. “That’s an opportunity for researchers to connect with their peers at other institutions that are working on similar kinds of projects. We have some state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories that are made available to those researchers.”
McMaster said anyone is invited to the business development forums, but they are geared mostly for business leaders, community leaders and others in the entrepreneurial community looking to start up businesses around emerging technologies