US-Egypt workshop on Industry/University Collaborative Research, Alexandria, Egypt, January 2014

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

1346945 Iskander. This project supports a US-Egypt workshop on Industry/University Collaborative Research and Technology Transfer Partnership. The organizers are Dr. Magdy Iskander, Director, Hawaii Center for Advanced Communications and Director NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center at the University of Hawaii and Dr. Amr Farouk Abdelkhalik, Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Cairo, Egypt. The workshop, scheduled for January 2014 in Alexandria, Egypt, is to bring together researchers and colleagues from industry and academia to discuss avenues to stimulate, and promote effective collaborative research partnerships that will result in significant research outcomes and in technology transfer, commercialization, job creation and broader benefits to the community. Invited paper and plenary presentations describing the overarching issues in establishing industry/academia collaborative research will be scheduled, opportunities and available NSF programs for joint funding will be described, and avenues towards establishing partnerships and start-ups will be described. Opportunities in two specific research areas including wireless communications and electronic design and packaging technologies will be described and used as representative examples of avenues and procedures for establishing successful industry/university collaborative research activities and centers. Fifteen US researchers and leading professionals from academia and industry have been invited to present research results and discuss views on the broader topic of industry/university collaborative research. Intellectual property issues, avenues/barriers towards commercialization, procedures for startups, and available NSF/Egypt programs for international collaborations in engineering research and education will be addressed. Intellectual Merit: There is a strong interest and recognized need in the US, and also in Egypt, for transferring innovative academic research to industry for commercialization, economic growth, and benefits to the broader community. An avenue for achieving this goal is to stimulate, promote and facilitate stronger collaboration between industry and universities in research activities of mutual interest. The workshop will provide presentations and panel discussion sessions and opportunities for open Q&A forums on the topic of industry/university collaborative research, its benefits/challenges and effective implementation procedures for highly successful partnerships. The two areas of wireless communications and electronic design and packaging are popular and of future interest and growth and will be used to help focus the discussion on specific roadmaps for implementing and the formation of successful partnerships between scientist and engineers in the US and Egypt. The goal is to develop tech transfer between companies and Universities in Egypt and foster faculty and industry collaborations, and to enhance collaboration with US scientists and industrial researchers. Fifteen U.S. scientists will make presentations at the workshop on (a) intellectual property issues, (b) tech transfer lessons, (c) job creation, and (d) commercialization. The objectives are to: enhance collaboration between scientists and engineers, increase understanding of Egypt's scientific needs by U.S. scientists, and develop an IP culture in Egypt and foster improved collaboration and trusted relations between the U.S. & Egyptian companies. The workshop is expected to create opportunities for international multidisciplinary collaboration between scientists in the two countries. Broader Impacts: The workshop offers an opportunity for scientists and engineers in the US and Egypt to start new international collaborations. The workshop, through focus on industry/university collaborations in research and economic development, is expected to help stimulate technology transfer and commercialization of academic research. It will help provide researchers with resources for realizing the much anticipated benefits from a collaborative industry/university research activities and partnerships. It will be a positive experience for the participants on both sides and can help act as a catalyst for international collaborations between the US and Egyptian scientists and engineers. If successful, the workshop will have a strong broader impact in pushing the technology transfer from academia to industry in Egypt. Egypt is a large country and there is strong potential for commercialization and economic growth, and forming company and scientific partnerships with the U.S. is highly beneficial. The project is funded through the US-Egypt Joint Fund with co-funding from the NSF/International Science and Engineering office and the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems.