Michael Sweeney's  Instablog

Technology Transfer is the process transferring academic research, knowledge, technologies, and methods of manufacturing from governments, universities, and other institutions to real world applications that have are accessible to a wider range of users. Typically the transfer includes added levels of technology by an individual or corporation in order to make market ready products, processes, applications, materials or services. In a past life, Mike Sweeney, the author of this article, directed a technolgy start-up in Silicon Valley and worked with the Cornell Center for Technology Enterprise & Commercialization (CCTEC), which is Cornell University's technology transfer office. Technology Transfer is a market that has been extremely underutilized by corporate America. The federal government spends millions of dollars on research at universities regarding this topic, and the end result often "sits on the shelf". Thus, it was very interesting for me to see that GP Strategies (NYSE: GPX) has a real commitment to the Technology Transfer market.

GP Strategies has been proactive in transferring technology from government programs for use in other government programs or in commercial product and services development.

Current technology transfer offerings at GP Strategies include:

• Test ranges for unmanned autonomous vehicles employing devices such as autonomous undersea platforms (AUPs).
• Parametric sonar development.
• E-learning expertise.
• Through the use of the GP Strategies' Virtual Maintenance Engineering Platform (VMEP), connectivity is achievable between commercial unmanned surface and subsurface vehicles and remote operating worldwide locations for maintenance and control. Developments can facilitate the ability to connect systems that are currently disconnected for repairing equipment over the Internet.
• Application of the GP Strategies Cost Driver modeling process to commercial enterprises. Navigating With the Cost Driver Approach (53KB PDF) describes one example of GP Strategies' technology transfer for a commercial company. The military concept of system sustainment provides a process to identify support requirements, prior to acquisition, to reduce program life cycle costs. The article Sustainment Modeling for Project Managers (47KB PDF) provides a simplified approach for managers to implement for commercial sustainment projects.

Future potential areas of technology transfer for GP Strategies include:

• The development and use of Autonomous Undersea "Robotic" Platforms to support oil exploration, the fishing industry and homeland security can also be used in the implementation of Portable Test Ranges (PTRs) to support the operational testing of commercial unmanned surface and subsurface vehicles. Proposed facilities such as the Autonomous Undersea Vehicle Applications Center could use this type of test range.
• Parametric sonar constitutes advanced underwater acoustic signal processing and array technology developed and tested by the Navy to support fleet combat operational requirements in areas that are often too challenging for conventional undersea sensors. This unique technology can be readily transferred to other maritime applications adapted for homeland security harbor defense needs and buried object detection. Parametric sonar can also expand the capabilities of secure undersea acoustic communications. Other advanced acoustic technologies being explored for development include nonlethal acoustic weapons.
• Development of an unmanned system for mine neutralization (Cyclops) to provide interdiction of drug-carrying submarines and swimmer detection for domestic and foreign usage.
• Expansion of techniques to facilitate the use of mobile tablet technology for training using Android applications.
• Development of a submersible aerial unmanned vehicle (Scorpion) that can support battle group operations by flying sensors to operational area locations, searching underwater for mini-submarines, mines and unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs). The aircraft will be scalable to support manned operations of SEAL Teams.

Mike Sweeney - Mike worked at Shearson Lehman Brothers and Chase Securities. In the technology field, Mike was the co-founder of 4th Peripheral Technologies, a wireless speech and telecommunications company in Silicon Valley that was taken over by a management team from Motorola and Lucent. Mike received his M.B.A. in 1989 from The Johnson School at Cornell University and his B.A. in 1984 from Boston College.