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APPROACHES TO ENHANCE ONR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER 39 



ONR Scientists and Engineers — ONR should set aside an inviolate portion of its 

 research funding to focus on the transfer of technology to the nonmilitary sector. 

 Several key technology transfer opportunities could be identified and grants 

 awarded to ONR researchers working in cooperation with a commercial firm to 

 produce a commercial product, process, or service. Cost sharing from the com- 

 mercial firm might be required as a measure of its commitment and financial 

 capability to transfer the product or service to the marketplace. Such an award 

 system could readily be incorporated into the TTC concept discussed above. 



Other incentives in the form of awards or recognition could be used to show 

 the value of technology transfer. These could take the form of financial awards 

 or simple recognition by higher management of successful technology transfer 

 efforts within a research program. Although there exists a policy designed to 

 reward DOD employees for domestic technology transfer (DOD, 1988) and a 

 program to carry out that policy (see Chapter 3), this program appears to be vastly 

 under used. Evidence of successful technology transfer could be made part of the 

 performance evaluation of ONR employees at all levels. This would encourage 

 employees to consider technology transfer as a vital part of their professional 

 responsibilities. 



Academic Scientists and Engineers Supported by ONR — ONR sponsors approxi- 

 mately 4,000 basic and applied research projects at an average of about $100,000 

 per project. The "typical" project includes a PI and a graduate student (or a 

 postdoctoral researcher). While the following suggestions would not appeal to 

 all Pis, some would use it to enhance technology transfer. 



If the PI is able to arrange industrial cosponsorship for an ONR-sponsored 

 project, ONR could underwrite the indirect cost for up to $30,000 of the industri- 

 ally funded direct cost (up to, perhaps, $15,000 for each year of the ONR-spon- 

 sored project). This added cost to ONR would enable the cosponsoring industry 

 to "buy into" a highly leveraged project and help ensure that the focus of the 

 research involves the company's commercial needs and product interests. 



ONR could also seek an option exercisable at a later stage of the research 

 when the project is more mature or has become more attractive to the potential 

 commercial sponsor, although a lack of early involvement by ONR may hinder 

 later success. The Pis obviously benefit by increasing their research output 

 potential (e.g., an additional graduate student can be supported). The advantage 

 to ONTl is essentially the same: increased technology transfer (at the local re- 

 searcher level) and greater quantity and quality of research (from a comir.ercial 

 standpoint). The students involved benefit by gaining an understanding of both 

 the Navy's scientific interests and the company's (market-driven) interests. 



METRICS 



Although ONR supports many efforts in technology transfer, it is currently 



