Industry Resources

This page is under construction, for an overview of what technology transfer means for business and industry, see below. Check back soon for more information on how to participate in commercialization of technology developed at HSU.

Tips on Commercialization from a USDA SBIR Success Story

Each year, the USDA SBIR program holds a Commercialization Workshop for its phase II grantees. This workshop provides a forum for companies to discuss the opportunities and challenges that they face as they move toward commercialization of the product, process, or service that they are developing. The USDA SBIR program has invited several of its most successful companies to provide insights on the different, yet successful, approaches to commercializing SBIR projects. This article is written by Douglas Drennan, co-Owner of Aquaculture Systems Technologies (AST), LLC of New Orleans, LA. Drennan founded the company in 1995 with his wife Catherine. To date AST has received funding for five USDA phase I projects and three phase II projects. Additionally, AST has received funding for three DOC/NOAA phase I projects and one phase II project.

What is Technology Commercialization?

Technology commercialization is a multi-step process that should start way before the actual development of the "technology."

Know Your Industry

This means much more than just reading trade publications. It means participating in and serving on boards of industry organizations and trade groups. Through relationships with customers and fellow organization members, knowing your industry becomes second nature.

Identify The Opportunity

By knowing your industry and its problems, it is easy to spot opportunities for new products or technologies.

Market Research

Knowing your industry is of paramount importance in conducting market research. This is not something that can be done in a couple of hours sitting in front of a computer via a Google search. You must first determine if the opportunity is real or perceived. Next you need to talk to your customers, colleagues, and/or attend industry conferences to establish what your industry's current solution to the problem is and get a feel for whether or not there is an economic incentive to solve the problem(s), i.e. the opportunity is real. This is also the time to try to get an idea of what the industry will pay for a solution to the problem. It is of paramount importance to know going in that the solution or opportunity is not cost prohibitive.

Research And Development

It is very important to have a strong research and development program. In the rapidly changing markets of today, it is imperative that one stay current since the product you are selling today may be obsolete tomorrow. The SBIR Program is a great way to fund R&D!

So up to this point you have identified an opportunity, determined the opportunity is real and concluded that your industry will pay a certain price for a solution to the problem which created the opportunity.

Now it is time to develop the product/technology. Again, we have found that the SBIR Program is a great way to do this. It is much more than just the free money. The entire process from submitting your phase I proposal to peer review by industry experts and finally the awarding of a phase I project is further confirmation that others agree that the opportunity exits and that you have a potentially viable solution. Just preparing the grant package is a great learning experience even if you are not initially funded. I cannot stress enough that just because you are not funded initially, do not get discouraged. Learn from what the reviewers said about your proposal, improve it, and re-submit.

Product Evolution

Phase I gives you the funds and opportunity to prove your concept. Phase II provides additional funds to refine your concept and conduct Beta testing of a prototype or prototypes in a commercial environment.

Use at least part of your two year phase II project for Beta testing in both the commercial and research sectors. It is important that you select high profile Beta test sites and do whatever is required so that your Beta test sites buy into your new technology. Common sense tell us that if the Beta test site with trained individuals operating your new technology with direct input from the inventor of the technology cannot get it right, then John Q public is going to have even more problems. You want your Beta test sites talking about your wondrous new product or technology because word of mouth can make you or break you before you even get started.

It is important that you seek out and listen to the feedback you get from your Beta test sites. While someone else is testing your product, it is a good time to get with your production team to work out your manufacturing plan and implement any changes dictated by manufacturing.

Know what the industry wants (i.e. large models, small models, or medium models). Incorporate technology advances in your product. Nobody wants to buy a state of the art technology running on DOS or using outdated components. Be aware of any on-going research and/or advances being made in your industry so as not get blinded by a competing product at a lower price just when you are ready to go to market.

Commercialization

You should have a plan for commercialization, and in fact it is required that you do so to receive Phase II funding. The most difficult part in putting together your commercialization plan is how are you going to fund it (i.e. venture capital, "Angels," or self-funded). I'll be the first to tell you that there is nothing wrong with self-funding, and we are not necessarily talking millions of dollars. Choose a manufacturing method which allows production of several different models without huge upfront cost (i.e. fiberglass versus plastic rotational or injection molding). Once you develop a market, it easy to switch over to a more cost effective method. This also allows the opportunity to place additional Beta "x" prototypes in the market, refine your product and market your product.

You should present your research results from phase I and II at industry conferences and in trade journals and magazines. Have your Beta test sites present testimonials of experiences along with scientific results of their Beta testing. Word of mouth is still one of the strongest marketing tools around. Develop a Web site touting your new technology, it is cheaper than print advertisements, and the amount of information you can present is unlimited. I'd still place advertisements in print journals and magazines but be sure to direct them to your Web site for additional information.

The Future

Do not ignore your core technologies in lieu of new technologies. Listen to your customer complaints or suggestions for improving your technology. This is one of the best ways to determine how you can refine or improve your technology. Diversification of both products and markets is also very important. You do not want to have a single technology dedicated to a single market because if you do, you are at the mercy of that market. Sometimes you have to be creative in discovering and penetrating "ancillary" markets. Again, I cannot stress the importance of having a strong R&D department.

In this day and age, everyone seems to think they need millions of dollars to start a company or develop a technology. This is simply not true. Look around at some of your more successful vendors. What do most of them have in common? Probably that they have been in business for 10 to 20 years and had 10 to 20 years to grow and evolve into the business you see today through several generations. There is nothing wrong with this approach; "don't be afraid to slow down."