IU partnership creates opportunities for scientists

From IDS Reports

IU has announced the beginning of a collaborative research and development agreement with the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Ind., designed to increase IU’s technology presence and create more collaboration opportunities between the two institutions and Indiana’s private business sector.

IU and IU Research and Technology Corp. will act as liaisons for the Crane warfare center and IU scientists, identifying and connecting employees from both facilities to share technology developments with businesses.

“It will open up new opportunities for IU scientists and Crane scientists to connect with the private sector and take their ideas and inventions to market,” said IU physics professor Paul Sokol, who is also the associate vice provost for the sciences.

The collaboration is also designed to increase technology information exchanges between Crane and IU.

This agreement could open doors for experienced Crane scientists to teach specialized technology classes at IU for which there are no faculty available to teach, Sokol said.

Sokol predicted that technologies focusing on security will be the best candidates for private sector success.

“There’s a great interest in cybersecurity, data mining, developing of new technology for chemical detection,” he said.

“There is the possibility in the future of collaborations with social sciences, looking at behaviors and things like that.”

According to a recent IU News Room press release, IU and the Crane warfare center, about 25 miles southwest of Bloomington, are the largest employers in the area.

As for IU, Sokol said the agreement will help bring IU’s products to a wide audience while helping Indiana’s private sector and creating potential job opportunities for IU graduates.

— Colleen Sikorski