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new edition

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More USM millionaires
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SOUTHERN MISS RESEARCH FOUNDATION


RECEIVES DONATION FROM SHELL


 


HATTIESBURG -- Noetic Technologies Inc., a company created for entrepreneurs at The University of Southern Mississippi, has been given the opportunity to commercialize technology based on a recent donation of intellectual property to the university's Research Foundation from Shell Chemical LP of Houston, Texas. 


The intellectual property is in the area of blends of polyolefins and poly-1-butene polymers used extensively in the packaging industry.  It will also generate financial support for further technical work and commercialization of the technology.


According to Dr. Celesta White, research engineer at Shell Chemical, Southern Miss was selected over other universities because "in addition to the great technology fit with the Polymer Science Department, having a commercialization team like Noetic Technologies Inc. makes Southern Miss an ideal IP donation recipient."


"This type of opportunity will continue to grow the Research Foundation and the university," responded Noetic President and CEO, Dr. Les Goff. "We are very appreciative that Shell Chemical LP has provided this opportunity."


 Noetic, the commercial and marketing organization for the university's Research Foundation, was created this year to take the research and intellectual property created at Southern Miss from the laboratory into the commercial sector.



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truth4usm/AH

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Yep...funny how all of the "research and technology" that Noetic is dealing with is polymer-related.  Any non-polymer related research or technology being solicited by Noetic?  My guess would be:  a big, fat NO.


Ergo:  all potential USM millionaires will also be polymer scientists!  Get on the plastic bandwagon, folks!



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Invictus

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quote:
Originally posted by: truth4usm/AH
"Yep...funny how all of the "research and technology" that Noetic is dealing with is polymer-related.  Any non-polymer related research or technology being solicited by Noetic?  My guess would be:  a big, fat NO.
Ergo:  all potential USM millionaires will also be polymer scientists!  Get on the plastic bandwagon, folks!"


How does this play with folks in other departments in COST? If you talk about emerging technologies, you're going to hear computer science, biochem & molecular biology like crazy, but you really don't hear about polymer science. Except in USM press releases. What gives?

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Otherside

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quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
"

How does this play with folks in other departments in COST? If you talk about emerging technologies, you're going to hear computer science, biochem & molecular biology like crazy, but you really don't hear about polymer science. Except in USM press releases. What gives?"


Poly. Sci. is the only engineering discipline at USM. It is not unusual for eng. programs to produce products that could lead to patents. It would be close to Chem. Eng. at other universities.

But to answer the question "What gives.?". Poly.Sci. always was big on PR at USM and with a PS president they now could use their own paper and TV station to handle all of the BS...err PR coming out.


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COST faculty

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quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
" How does this play with folks in other departments in COST? If you talk about emerging technologies, you're going to hear computer science, biochem & molecular biology like crazy, but you really don't hear about polymer science. Except in USM press releases. What gives?"

 


PSC has always been very industry-oriented and as a consequence very intellectual property-oriented. It is not at all surprising they are the major player in this. As another poster noted, they are similar to chemical engineering as well as materials science. You do hear lots about those.


Having said that, Noetic is working with other departments in COST and I have heard good things about those interactions.



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Invictus

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quote:
Originally posted by: COST faculty
"Having said that, Noetic is working with other departments in COST and I have heard good things about those interactions."


Thanks for the info. It's good to hear that Noetic is working outside poly sci. When I looked at the staff & organization, it made me wonder. It seems pretty set to promote poly sci, but one wonders about the other disciplines.

By itself, Noetic is an interesting concept. It's the organization that bothered me.



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Former Executive

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quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
" By itself, Noetic is an interesting concept. It's the organization that bothered me. "
Iagree.  We had a good deal of conversation about this on the old board.  All things equal, technology transfer is good.  Spin-off companies are good.  What I found unusual about Noetic were three things.  1.) The due diligence was performed at USM's expense by new USM employees who subsequently became the founders of Noetic,  2.) the high level of inter-relatedness and potential for conflicts of interest and claims of nepotism by the principals, and 3.) the fact that the technology transfer itself has been privatized rather than the technology only being privatized.

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educator

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Add to the fact that the only area that Sir Shelby appears to be competent in is polymers. He's clueless about any other university area.

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Invictus

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quote:
Originally posted by: educator
"Add to the fact that the only area that Sir Shelby appears to be competent in is polymers. He's clueless about any other university area."


I disagree. SFT is very competent in the area of self promotion.

Other than the aforementioned organizational issues, another thing that the whole Research Foundation/Noetic deal brings up is the fact that USM is getting basic research donated to it. Instead of doing basic research in polymer science, the department must be focussing on commercializing things invented elsewhere.

Somebody correct me if I'm drifting too far from shore, but it appears to me that what the Research Foundation/Noetic deal does is create a tax dodge for corporations. Would Shell (or any other serious corporation) donate the rights to a formulation that had an immediate market? Nope. What this seems to do is give corporations tax breaks for contributing the dead ends from research to the university. ("Er, here's the slop that we had left over. See if you can do anything with it.")

Has anything yet been contributed to the Research Foundation that has been translated into cash for the institution? Or is it all "virtual money" based on somebody's appraisal of what the research might have been worth had it been marketable?

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educator

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You're right Invictus - he is very good at both positive and negative self promotion, and he is diligently promoting himself.

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