Excerpt

This workshop focused on factors such as work processes, systems, and technologies that could enable and accelerate the pace of innovation and increase the yield of major innovations from work in the basic chemical sciences. More specifically, speakers identified teamwork, commitment, standardized portfolio management, clear goals, well-defined milestones, and effective technology transfer as some of the characteristics of innovative institutions and practices. Successful approaches to innovation have taken place in different environments and between different environments—despite infrastructure and cultural differences, both interdisciplinary collaborations and collaborations between industry and academia have proven beneficial for all parties. Funding must also be available to promote innovation at stages of research often ignored.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Chemical Science Roundtable
• Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
• Preface
• Acknowledgment of Reviewers
• Summary
• 1. Overview of Trends in Innovation in the Chemical Industry
  • DISCUSSION
• 2. Techniques for Structured Innovation
  • DISCUSSION
• 3. The Chemistry Innovation Process: Breakthroughs for Electronics and Photonics
  • DISCUSSION
• 4. DARPA's Approach to Innovation and Its Reflection in Industry
  • INTRODUCTION
  • DARPA
  • PROGRAM MANAGEMENT DARPA STYLE
  • THE TECH TRANSFER PROCESS
  • SRI INTERNATIONAL
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • DISCUSSION
• 5. Comments on the Advanced Technology Program
  • DISCUSSION
• 6. What Have We Learned from Hot Topics?
  • DISCUSSION
• 7. Industrial Innovation with External R&D Programs
  • DISCUSSION
• 8. Some New Ideas for Speeding Up the Development of Products from University Research
  • DISCUSSION
• 9. From Molecules to Materials to Market: A Rational Framework for Products Formulation and Design
  • DISCUSSION
• 10. The Tacit Economics of Modeling: Indifference Curves that Should Defy Indifference
  • DISCUSSION
• 11. Successful Innovation Starting in an Academic Environment
  • DISCUSSION
• 12. Panel Discussion
• Appendixes
  • A Workshop Participants
  • B Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers
  • C Origin of and Information on the Chemical Sciences Roundtable

This study was supported by the Research Corporation under Grant No. GG0066, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation under Grant Nos. SG-00-094 and SG-02-025, the National Institutes of Standards and Technology under Grant No. NA1341-01-W-1098, the U.S. Department of Defense under Grant No. MDA-972-01-M-0038, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Grant No. R-82823201, the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CHE-000778, the National Institutes of Health under Contract No. N01-OD-4-2139, and the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-95ER14556.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.