According to the preliminary responses to
the survey, at least a dozen new companies
have been launched by students whose
research education was supported, in part,
by IUCRP matching grants -- which provided
the students direct exposure to the problems
confronting industry and the opportunities for
entrepreneurial business development. A list
of those companies and student founders is
provided in the box.
Timbre Technologies was founded by three
UC Berkeley students who were supported
in an IUCRP matching grant for electronics
manufacturing research (see Success Story,
below). TransOptix Inc. (formerly Advanced
Optical MEMS) was founded by Dr. Charles
Chu, who had participated as a student in
an IUCRP-sponsored research project lead by
Professor G. P. Li at the UC Irvine Integrated
Nanosystems Facility (INRF). It is worth noting
that Professor Li attributes the development
of the INRF, itself, to a seed grant jointly
funded by a consortium of companies and an
IUCRP matching grant. The INRF currently
engages 52 companies in research, 80% of
which are small firms. Simultaneously, INRF
faculty are educating dozens of students.
The Economic Research team tracks the
entrepreneurial
business
development
The California economy has experienced
a tremendous downswing, taking with it
hundreds of thousands of jobs. The box
shows employment changes at sponsor firms
(where data is available). Larger companies
show heavy net losses due to massive layoffs
(i.e., Silicon Graphics Inc., H-P, Intel,
ChevronTexaco Corporation, Sony Pictures
Entertainment, Sony Technology Center-
San Diego, Nortel Networks Corporation,
QUALCOMM Inc., Advanced Micro Devices,
Motorola, Syngenta Crop Protection, Ericcson
CDMA Systems Division, Atmel Corp., KLA-
Tencor Corporation).
Smaller firms show growth, with more than
5,000 net new California jobs created by firms
that had fewer than 500 employees at the
time of their first IUCRP matching grant.