Dr Pat Frain, Director of NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at UCD has been elected Chair of ProTon Europe. ProTon Europe is the pan-European network of knowledge transfer offices, national knowledge transfer associations and companies affiliated to universities and other public research organisations. ProTon Europe has over 250 direct member institutions in 28 European countries employing some 2000 knowledge transfer professionals. Dr Frain is the first Irishman to chair ProTon Europe.

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Dr Pat Frain

ProTon Europe was established in 2002 to promote innovation by increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge transfer and university-industry collaboration across Europe. Through the representation of national associations at a European level ProTon Europe offers its members an opportunity to develop, inform and influence European policy relating to knowledge transfer.

ProTon Europe also supports the professional development of knowledge transfer offices across Europe through the exchange of best practice, staff exchanges, the delivery of appropriate training and networking.

On being elected Chair Dr Frain said, “European competitiveness and sustained economic growth and prosperity are increasingly dependent on the generation of new innovative products and services, many of which have their origins in the knowledge created through research undertaken in universities and other public research organisations. In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that successful knowledge transfer is dependent on the development of a strong profession and the generation of partnerships between those who create knowledge and those who exploit it for the benefit of the economy and society.”

Dr Frain added, “While long-term strategic partnerships are most effective, true partnership depends on trust and commitment, which are dependent on strong personal relationships and shared values.”

ENDS

14 April 2008

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: (01) 716 3712.

Editors Notes

Knowledge Transfer is the transfer of know-how, skills and knowledge from one party to another leading to innovative, profitable or economic improvements for government, organisations and individuals in the private and public sectors and in the wider community.

Dr Pat Frain is Director of NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at UCD. He was responsible for the planning and development of NovaUCD, which opened in 2003, with the support of a public/private partnership involving UCD, Enterprise Ireland and six private sector organisations. He had been Director of the University Industry Programme (UIP) at UCD since 1988. He is the immediate past chair of AURIL (UK and Ireland) and is a member of the Board of the Institute for Knowledge Transfer. Before joining UCD, Pat Frain was employed by the National Board for Science and Technology in the development of manpower and innovation policy and programmes. He is a Director of IE Domain Registry Ltd and he has also been a Director of a number of other small firms including CIRCA Group (Europe) Ltd., AV Edge Ltd. and NTERA Ltd. He is a physicist by qualification and an alumnus of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Co-operation.

NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s €11 million Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre. NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with industry and business. NovaUCD as a purpose-built centre also nurtures new technology and knowledge-intensive enterprises. NovaUCD has over 40 incubation units, including bio-incubation units, and provides innovators and entrepreneurs with the necessary support and knowledge to take their ideas from proof of principle to commercial success. Twenty-three knowledge-intensive companies are currently located in NovaUCD. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.