José F. Méndez Dr.hc

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Office of Economic Developmentand CommercializationInvention, innovation andentrepreneurship driveour economic modelLuis García FeliúThe Economic Development and CommercializationOffice (EDCO) plays a leading rolein the university of the 21st Century. Workingwithin the framework of regional economic developmentorganizations, which were first spearheadedby the AGMUS more than a decade ago, EDCOpromotes business development, cultivating anenvironment of innovation, invention and entrepreneurship.Called alianzas in Spanish, these regional alliancesare multi-sector, comprised of private industry,government and nonprofits, including universities.EDCO’s responsibility is to support and broaden thescope of the four alianzas designed to attract andretain industry, foment research and development andcreate wealth for the regions.All told, nearly 50 municipalities participate in thealianzas organized by region. The four are: INTENOR(Spanish acronym for the Northern TechnologicalInitiative), INTENE (North-Eastern TechnologicalInitiative), INTECO (Eastern-Central TechnologicalInitiative) and DISUR (Alliance for the IntegratedDevelopment of the South).22In addition to supporting this regional economicdevelopment model, EDCO is responsible for thetransfer of technology from science research that comesout of the university laboratories. A new product, forinstance, would be moved from the research lab toone of the alliance’s business incubators. Within thealianzas, EDCO aims to create a sustainableentrepreneurial ecosystem through the creation of newbusiness enterprises.The pieces needed to promote AGMUS’ vision ofeconomic prosperity for Puerto Rico are being puttogether by the alianzas. At the Intenor Science Park,for instance, EDCO oversees the development of 35,000square feet of incubator space (which has the potentialto double in space). The first tenants will be sevenentrepreneurial companies selected under the UMET’sEco Enterprise program. The science park, located inthe northern coastal town of Barceloneta, is in thearea of several pharmaceutical plants whose managerswork with UT faculty at the Center of Excellence forAdvanced Technology to devise a curriculum fortraining employees and potential employees in areasessential to the industry.During the 2010-2011 year, the International DesignCenter (IDC), another innovative project of the EDCO,will open at the science park. The IDC, equippedwith a $1.2 million grant from the governmentownedPuerto Rico Industrial Development Company(PRIDCO), is a fabrication lab, which uses digitaltechnology to challenge students to design a product,
and then fabricate it. The design center. affiliatedwith UT’s International School of Design, is based onthe “fab labs” created by Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) professor Neil Gershenfeld who firstchallenged his students “…to make (almost) anything”using digital tools. Fab labs have since been set upworldwide - from Norway, where herders designedand built radio antennae and electronic tags to tracktheir sheep, to Ghana, where villagers fabricatedsolar-powered machinery to cook food. In PuertoRico, the IDC will transcend the classroom, offeringdesign and fabrication services to incubator clients,pharmaceuticals and other businesses - something likeFomento’s old Design Council.Among the strategic projects developed duringthis year is an online entrepreneurial training programoriginated by a Puerto Rican enterprise called FoamshipSystems. EDCO collaborated with Foamship Systemsin bringing the guide to entrepreneurship online.AGMUS’ distance learning experts developed theonline modules, which is required “reading” for clientsof the alianza’s business incubators. The universitysystem has an equity stake in the company and iscollaborating on the prospect of using online modulesbeyond startup companies.In the area of health sciences, EDCO is managingthe commercialization of fluorescent cellular markersdiscovered by UMET researchers Beatriz Zayas andOsvaldo Cox. Cellular markers are used in cancerresearch to detect damaged cells. The syntheticcompound has been moved to one of the “virtual”business incubators to market the product. At thisstage, the markers would be used in cancer researchfor diagnostic purposes.In the works is a Professional Development Center(PDC) for advanced training of nurses and otherhealt<strong>hc</strong>are professionals in Puerto Rico and theCaribbean. The PDC, to be located at IntenorScience Park, uses simulation technology to createhypothetical hospital situations.Looking ahead, EDCO envisions Intenor’s sciencepark and the other regional alliances to act as amagnet for new teaching and new technology. PuertoRico’s quest for sustainable economic developmentand global competiveness relies on the success of theregional model.
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Page 10 and 11: Message from the ChairIn fulfilling
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Page 20 and 21: Institute for Public PolicyA public
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General InformationAna G. Méndez U
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