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Mission Statement:

To act as a cross-roads where University research and education meet with Industry and Government partners in Polymer Materials, Engineering and Processing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to leverage resources and foster partnerships that lead to lasting value collaborations.

The Center:

The oldest National Science Foundation established Industry / University Cooperative Research Center (NSF-I/UCRC), established in 1980, has evolved into a dynamic Center program. Its multi-part structure offers flexibility to participating members in tailoring their research programs and objectives. The customized approach allows Sponsors to meet the challenges of integrating cutting-edge science and technology transfer in a fast-paced business world.

CUMIRP's Multi-Part Structure:

Part I- Research Consortium (NSF I/UCRC Format) Part I is divided into "Clusters" of related research topics.

Part II- One-on-One Sponsored Research

Part III- Unrestricted Research Grants

Part IV- Short Duration, Idea Development Research Project

CUMIRP Featured in Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program Evaluation Project

Research Center Sustainability and Survival: Case Studies of Fidelity, Reinvention and Leadership of Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers

Denis Gray, Lou Tornatzky, Lindsey McGowen Completed 2012

Final Report (pdf)

Full article: http://www.ncsu.edu/iucrc/SupplementalResearch.htm

The Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) program was designed to enhance the US’s research, education and technology transfer infrastructure by promoting stronger technical and organizational ties between university and industry. Evaluation efforts undertaken during the I/UCRCs thirty-plus years of operation have provided persuasive and methodologically robust evidence that it has been achieving these objectives. However, like other federal S&T programs, little has been known about the extent to which the I/UCRC program achieved another important program objective. the establishment of long-term partnerships that were self-sustaining.

Building on archival data collected as part of the ongoing I/UCRC evaluation effort and new interviews with key informants involved in the transition from a government-funded program to self-sustainability, we developed a collection of case studies that attempted to highlight both the factors that influenced survival and the different post-NSF paths to Center sustainability that different Centers could take. 

Four case studies highlight how, with effective leadership, Centers can not only navigate these and other challenges to sustainability but in some cases reinvent the I/UCRC model so it was better suited to unique local needs and circumstances. Chapter 3, Reinventing the I/UCRC Model, tells the story of the Center for University of Massachusetts/Industry Research on Polymers (CUMIRP) and how it developed a hybrid center model. Technology - Intellectual Property UMass Amherst's Technology Transfer Office specializes in moving technologies from the University lab bench to corporate product development, so they can become commercially viable products, processes and services. It is responsible for working with industry to license technologies created on its Amherst campus, with a focus on defining product opportunities that are identified as being relevant to industry’s product platform. The primary commercialization mechanism is through license agreements with for-profit companies that make and sell products incorporating the University’s technology. Other routes may include the formation of new companies. The Technology Transfer Office will also facilitate arranging for technical support or research participation by UMass inventors and scientists for supporting technology transfer under a license.