Supply Push Program Model
RERC on Technology Transfer
T2RERC Mission Statement [Slide 2]
“The Technology Transfer RERC advances methods, technologies
and products, through collaboration with all stakeholders, to
improve assistive technology devices and services. Our goal is to
improve the quality of life for people with disabilities through
new or improved assistive technology devices.”
Center Overview/Background
The Technology Transfer RERC is designed to function as an
intermediary and a catalyst, improving the process while
expanding the network of stakeholders participating in the field
of assistive technology. Accomplishing the mission requires close
collaboration with academic, industrial, clinical, consumer and
government stakeholders.
The Technology Transfer RERC is a partnership of technical,
marketing and consumer agencies experienced in assistive
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technology evaluation, transfer and commercialization funded by
the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
of the Department of Education under grant number
H133E980024. The partnership is comprised of four
organizations. The Center for Assistive Technology or CAT at the
University at Buffalo performs all administrative functions of the
grant, undertakes the technical evaluations devices and
technologies and determines their projected of refinements and
uses in assistive technology.
Aztech is the marketing and commercialization arm of the RERC.
AZtech examines a device or technology’s market potential,
develops vital marketing information on the device or
technology’s marketing segment, and assists with the licensing of
devices.
The third partner and most important member of our group is the
Western New York Independent Living Center or ILC. This group
brings the consumer focus to submitted devices. Our Consumer
Team has consumers with disabilities evaluate the submitted
device, and determine the degree of need for and how well the
submitted device performs the function it is intended. They bring
the consumer perspective to bear as to what features and qualities
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the submitted device may be lacking to make it a useful device
that truly fulfills the needs of the consumers. The results of our
Consumer Team’s evaluation tell us of a device’s potential to
address a currently unmet or poorly met need in the marketplace
A fourth entity is the Research Triangle Institute of North
Carolina (RTI). RTI brings its’ demonstrated success in
identifying product and technology needs and locating solutions
to those needs. RTI’s expertise is instrumental in the RERC
successfully operating its demand pull model of technology
transfer.
The work done by these four organizations results in a document
package of technical, marketing and consumer data. The
document package is then presented to corporations for the express
purpose of enticing them to commercialize these devices or
technologies thus bringing to market new and useful assistive
devices for the disabled.
PLAN OF OPERATION
The Tech Transfer RERC’s plan of operation is driven by the four
NIDRR priorities presented in the original RFP:
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1. Identify and evaluate the models of technology transfer
applicable to assistive technology.
2. Identify the needs and provide technical assistance,
including engineering design and support, to [all
stakeholders] to facilitate the transfer of assistive technology
with particular emphasis on orphan products.
3. Develop and implement methodologies to screen promising
assistive technology and to evaluate the potential for
commercialization, including an assessment of principles of
universal design of prototypes [developed by stakeholders].
4. Design and disseminate protocols for technical, user and
market evaluation of promising inventions and new uses for
existing technologies.
The Tech Transfer RERC’s Strategic and Operating Plan
summarizes the scope of work. The Mission Statement reflects the
letter and spirit of the proposed priority. Our six Strategic Goals
address the four NIDRR priorities. These Strategic Goals
accommodate all the stakeholders listed in the priority for
consultation and technical assistance, including inventors,
entrepreneurs, small businesses and research centers. The
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Annual Objectives under each of the six Strategic Goals outline
the work underway and the outcomes expected. These Annual
Objectives are subject to revision each year.
Strategic Goal for Supply Push Model (1998 – 2003)
Improve the variety, quality and choice of products available in
the marketplace through a Supply Push model of technology
transfer (identify innovative technologies and product prototypes,
validate them by seeking product limitations and market
opportunities, and deliver them to industry). We plan to transfer
three to five new inventions to the marketplace per year
(Development & Utilization).
Annual Objectives (1998 – 1999):
Improve the state of technology for products available in the A/T
marketplace through a Supply Push model of technology transfer
(Development Program & Utilization):

Solicit emerging technologies and new prototypes relevant to
the A/T
market;

Conduct technology transfer process on submitted devices;

Develop commercialization packages and appropriate
contracts and transfer three devices.
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DEFINITION OF SUPPLY PUSH MODEL
OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
What is the Supply Push Model of Technology Transfer?
Supply push is a model of technology transfer in which the
transfer process starts with an identified technology or product
that is seeking an appropriate application. The underlying basis
for a supply-push model is that there are useful devices
languishing as prototypes and with the appropriate assistance
they can be pushed into the marketplace.
What is the T2RERC Supply Push Program’s Mission?
The mission of our supply push model of technology transfer is to
“improve the variety, quality and choice of products available in
the marketplace.”
In our process we seek out innovative new
products or technologies that inventors, or research organizations
have developed. We verify the marketplace’s need for this new
product or technology through a series of evaluations. We then
act as an intermediary between inventors, researchers and
manufacturers assisting in bringing the new product into the
marketplace.
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Overview of T2RERC Supply Push Program’s Process [Slide 3]
The T2RERC solicits inventions from inventors, and researchers.
We solicit inventions really from 4 specific sources:
1.
national invention competitions, (e.g., US Patent and
Trademark Office’s Inventor Exposition, the Maddak
Awards, and the Discovery Awards,)
2.
through the review of new patents issued
3.
from research organizations – particularly the RERC’s
4.
AZtech’s Innovation program for inventors
The T2RERC solicits inventions that appear to meet an assistive
technology need and have commercial potential.
Invention competitions are one of the sources of technology and
products that the RERC on Technology Transfer will draw on for
new products in the Supply Push Model. The United States Patent
and Trademark Conference and Exposition and the Discover
Awards are the two national competitions that we attend a year.
These competitions were chosen for their national exposure and
the screening that precedes a technology or patent being exhibited
at these shows. For example, prior to a device being exhibited at
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the USPTO Conference and Exposition, the device is graded on its’
commercial market potential and its technological advancement
in addition to its being a newly issued patent.
All devices at the exhibitions are evaluated (by the T2RERC) for
possible assistive technology applications. Inventors of those
devices that are deemed to have a new and useful application in
assistive technology are approached at the exhibition and asked
to complete a project submission package. They are to then
forward the completed invention disclosure package to the RERC
on Technology Transfer for commercialization assistance.
Another method in locating new technology and products that the
T2RERC mines is the USPTO’s database on patents. On a
biweekly basis, the T2RERC accesses the database for newly
issued patents. A database search by U.S. Patent Classification
enables us to quickly ascertain if any patents were issued in
classifications that would normally house assistive technology.
Upon verifying the patents functional uniqueness, we contact the
inventor for purposes of further research (working prototype
exists, any commercialization efforts underway, etc.) It is at this
point where we invite the inventor to complete a project
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submission package and forward a complete invention disclosure
package to the T2RERC.
Other methods being employed by the T2RERC to solicit assistive
technology inventions include ongoing canvassing of NIDRR’s
other RERC’s for new breakthrough technology they may have
come up with and need assistance in commercializing.
Lastly, AZtech has committed to continuing the RERC on
Technology Evaluation and Transfer’s inventor assistance
program. AZtech assists inventors in bringing new technologies to
market through a brokering program called Innovations. The
Innovations program was established to link new inventions in
the field of assistive technology with manufacturers in the
marketplace. The RERC on Technology Transfer periodically
screens submissions to AZtech’s Innovations program. Devices
which appear to be a significant product or technology
breakthrough in the field of assistive technology are brought into
the T2RERC's supply push program for possible
commercialization.
From our experience with the open solicitation of inventors of the
RERC on Technology Evaluation and Transfer we found that the
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majority of inventors contacting us for commercialization
assistance were rejected in our initial screening process. Rejection
reasons varied from existence of a competing product
unbeknownst to the inventor, to technical unfeasibility, to
existence of other technology that performs the same function, to
not being an assistive device, to the almost non-existence of a
market for a potential product.
By having the RERC on Technology Transfer focusing on
prescreening devices for its Supply Push Model through the
aforementioned four channels, we hope to eliminate the vast
amount of invention submission rejections we experienced in the
past.
Upon the completion of the prescreening of devices the RERC on
Technology Transfer runs another exhaustive series of
evaluations. The evaluation approves only new and unique
inventions that demonstrate technical feasibility, market
potential, and consumer acceptance. We then proceed to secure an
agent agreement with the inventor. This allows us to seek a
commercial partner and form a product team comprised of
members from our technical, marketing, and consumer groups.
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Upon completion of this agreement, the T2RERC forms a product
team comprised of members from our technical, marketing, and
consumer groups. These team members lay out a scope of work
and timeline for commercialization of the submitted device.
Action steps include:
 Identifying relevant product manufacturers
 More in depth literature search on competing products
 Literature search for technical references, standards and
regulations
 Consumer input through focus groups held on the device
determining possible product enhancements and priority
ranking of characteristics
 Technical analysis detailing device characteristics,
technical feasibility, and product enhancements
 Market analysis with a competing product matrix
benchmarking competing products versus the submitted
device’s characteristics
 Identification of the target market, distribution channels
 Supporting documentation in the way of CAD drawings,
pictures, or graphics
 Virtual product matrix.
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The product team then integrates all this material into a
commercialization package that is to be sent to prospective,
previously identified companies doing business in that device’s
specific market sector.
Our Director of Commercialization drafts a cover letter
delineating the purpose of the correspondence and the
commercialization package. This letter informs the reader of our
intent to license and of our planned future follow-up.
Videotapes, pictures or CAD drawings are also sent to the
potential licensees. The Director of Commercialization has the
responsibility of gathering and sending these materials out. In
specific cases, the Director of Commercialization will make a
presentation of these materials to prospective licensing companies
in person.
Upon completion of successful licensing negotiations with an
interested manufacturer, AZtech undertakes the task of
monitoring sales of the product and the distribution of royalties
to the inventor.
Therefore, by prescreening devices, exhaustive evaluations and
professional commercialization packages the RERC on Technology
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Transfer hopes to impact the lives of people with disabilities by
introducing useful new AT products into the marketplace via its
Supply Push program of Technology Transfer.
DETAILED METHOD
How does the T2RERC intake and review devices submitted by
inventors?
Upon our initial contact with an inventor, we mail the inventor
our eight page Device Intake Package which includes a T2RERC
Project Director’s signed Confidentiality Agreement. The inventor
is instructed to complete the package and return it to us along
with photographs or videotape of the subject invention. We then
undertake our initial evaluation composed of the following:
Documentation/Paperwork Review
Is the Device Intake Package completed properly and signed? Did
we receive enough graphic and visual information to perform an
initial evaluation? Does the device fit the legal definition of an
assistive device?
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Abledata/Internet/Literature Search for Similar/Competing
Product
Abledata, a database of over 20,000 assistive technology devices,
the Internet, and assistive technology catalog searches are
commenced for competing/existing products in the marketplace.
Additional Information
Is there an obvious ownership problem? Does the device infringe
on an existing patent as detailed in DIP submission? We perform
our own preliminary patent search on the World Wide Web
utilizing both the US Patent and Trademark Office and IBM sites
for this task. The USPTO’s website is www.uspto.gov and IBM’s is
www.patents.ibm.com. In addition we ascertain what specifically
the inventor is seeking from us? R&D, Business Plan, Clinical
Trials? If the device is rejected, correspondence to inventor is
generated with the reason for rejection given.
Business Opportunity Analysis Review Committee
A representative from the Technical, Consumer, and Marketing
teams identifies the problem/need the device addresses and the
potential users/market for the device. Each person spends about
three hours reviewing the submission, speaking with experts in
the field, and generating a written report with his/her
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recommendation. The Consumer team assembles a panel of
consumers, therapists, and caregivers to provide first hand
consumer feedback on the submitted device. The members then
meet; exchange reports and discuss the merits of the device. The
committee then makes a recommendation for or against
commercializing the device.
Oversight Coordination Team Review
The Coordination Team (directors of the two organizations
operating the T2 RERC, the project coordinator and the director of
research and development) review the Business Opportunity
Analysis committee’s recommendations. The team decides
whether to offer an Agent Agreement to the inventor, reject the
device as inappropriate, or to table the device pending the
resolution of a specific issue. The decision and copies of all prior
reports are sent to the inventor. If the findings are negative, a
rejection letter is sent to the detailing the reasons for the rejection
and returning all submitted materials. If the findings are
positive, the device is passed on to our Director of
Commercialization. He enters into negotiations with the inventor
to allow Aztech to become the inventor’s agent to seek a
commercialization partner for the device. An Agent Agreement is
signed.
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Product Team
As described previously the T2RERC has a very exhaustive
evaluation stage for submitted devices. After passing this stage,
and upon the receipt of a signed Agent Agreement from the
inventor by our Director of Commercialization, we form a
product team comprised of members from our technical,
marketing, and consumer groups. These team members lay out a
scope of work and timeline for commercialization of the
submitted device. Action steps include:
 Identifying relevant product manufacturers
 More in depth literature search on competing products
 Literature search for technical references, standards and
regulations
 Consumer input through focus groups held on the device
determining possible product enhancements and priority
ranking of characteristics
 Technical analysis detailing device characteristics,
technical feasibility, and product enhancements
 Market analysis with a competing product matrix
benchmarking competing products versus the submitted
device’s characteristics
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 Identification of the target market, distribution channels
 Supporting documentation in the way of CAD drawings,
pictures, or graphics

Virtual product matrix.
BENEFITS
The most successful inventions, as common sensical as it may
sound, are devices that fulfill a truly unmet need for at least a
minimum segment of people and that address the critical factors
mentioned previously. The value of the T2RERC technology
supply push program performing a technology transfer role is as
follows:
The benefits of the RERC on Technology Transfer’s Supply Push
Program Model for consumers are:
a) Inclusion of consumer input in the product development
and market launch processes through our use of focus
groups for concept definition, concept screening, and
prototype evaluation.
b) By attending the T2RERC focus groups, consumers receive
general information on products currently available in
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the marketplace, sometimes on products they were
previously unaware of as having existed.
For Manufacturers:
a) We, proverbially, separate the wheat from the chaff for
corporations through our exhaustive evaluation efforts on
devices.
b) T2RERC focus groups provide valuable consumer input in
testing price sensitivity, perceived value, and product
evaluations, in addition to consumer reaction to the
basic product function.
c) The T2RERC performs the tasks mentioned previously,
that need to be accomplished to successfully bring a
useful product to market.
d) The T2RERC may also be in the position to offer
financial assistance to a corporation in the start up of
this new product line.
e) The T2RERC and Aztech are able to present viable
inventions in a business like manner to corporations in a
method that companies are accustomed to. The T2RERC
commercialization packet contains a detailed consumer
evaluation of the product, an extensive look at competing
products in the marketplace and their device
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characteristics, a realistic and substantiated
marketing/sales projection, and a technical evaluation of
the device with suggested design changes.
f) The T2RERC, in effect, reduces the amount of effort and
time a company has to expend in evaluating the device’s
new product potential. To optimize a company’s return
on investment, some new products must be brought to
market quickly as they have a small entry window in
the marketplace before they are surpassed by newer
technology.
For Inventors:
a) The T2RERC technology transfer program has various
resources, which the inventor does not possess. First and
foremost, is our ability to involve the end users of a
device. Utilizing their input in product development
and onto marketing of a device we attempt to ensure a
successful product launch of a useful product.
b) Second, over the course of time, the RERC has made
many valuable industry contacts thus allowing us the
opportunity to present a product in the right light to the
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right company. This thereby increases the prototype
assistive device’s chances of being licensed and available
in the marketplace. Through these contacts, the RERC
has the knowledge of which companies are seeking to
introduce new products, and which corporations will not
accept outside inventions.
Therefore, by prescreening devices, exhaustive evaluations and
professional commercialization packages the RERC on Technology
Transfer hopes to impact the lives of people with disabilities by
introducing useful new AT products into the marketplace via its
Supply Push Program Model of Technology Transfer.
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REFERENCES
1. Lane, J. (1994).
“RERC on Technology Evaluation and
Transfer: Program Access and Value Added.” In M. Binion
(Ed.). Proceedings of the RESNA ‘94 Annual Conference.
Virginia: RESNA Press. 225-227.
2. U.S. Congress (1982). “Technology and Handicapped People.”
Washington, D.C.: Office of Technology Assessment. 164169.
3. Lane JP (1993). A Collaborative Model for Technology
Evaluation and Transfer In M. Binion (Ed.). Proceedings of
the RESNA ‘93 Annual Conference. Arlington, Virginia:
RESNA Press. 225-227.
4. Leahy JA (1997). Technology Transfer Via Invention Review:
Year 3 Progress Report In Proceedings of the RESNA ‘97
Annual Conference. Arlington, Virginia: RESNA Press.
133-135.
5. Jain AK, Usiak DJ, Lane JP (1996). Customer Orientation:
Key to Delivering Useful Assistive Devices In Proceedings of
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the RESNA ‘96 Annual Conference. Arlington, Virginia:
RESNA Press. 143-145.
6. Leahy JA & Lane JP (1996). Technology Transfer via
Invention Review:
A Progress Report In A. Langton (Ed.). Proceedings of the
RESNA ‘96 Annual Conference. Arlington, Virginia:
RESNA Press. 128-130.
7. Bauer SM (1997). The Product Team In Technology Transfer
In Proceedings of the RESNA ‘97 Annual Conference.
Arlington, Virginia: RESNA Press. 133-135.
8. Jain AK & Usiak DJ (1997) Customer Orientation: A
Blueprint for Action
In Proceedings of the RESNA ‘97
Annual Conference. Arlington, Virginia:RESNA Press. 136138
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