Vanderbilt is pushing the boundaries of academic technology transfer with a new online marketplace. The online store, http://vuinnovations.com, is selling innovative software, courseware and other digital products developed at the university and medical center.
From the press release:
Setting up such online stores is the latest trend in university technology transfer efforts. At least two other universities, University of Washington and University of Minnesota, have set up similar Web sites.
“After investigating similar Web sites, we have determined that we are one of the first universities to set up an e-commerce site of this type,” said Peter Rousos, senior business development executive in Vanderbilt’s Office of Technology Transfer and Enterprise Development, which set up the new site. “Hundreds of patents have been issued to Vanderbilt and the university has entered into numerous license agreements. We realized that a number of them were suitable for online sales.”
Early product offerings include “Play Nicely,” a video series to help parents, teachers and caregivers modify anti-social and violent behavior in kids; three different tools to help social scientists better use technology to collect and analyze data; and a program that calculates the radioactive doses various organs receive during different radiation treatments.
