Waikato regional economic profile - Waikato Regional Council

The University of Waikato has five major research institutes reflecting key areas ofresearch competitiveness in the areas of business (Institute of Business Research),demographics and macroeconomics (National Institute of Demographic and EconomicAnalysis), education (Wilf Malcolm Institute for Educational Research), the environment(Environmental Research Institute), and iwi development (Te Kotahi ResearchInstitute).WaikatoLink Ltd is the commercialisation and technology transfer company of theUniversity of Waikato. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Waikato,incorporated in 1993, WaikatoLink’s key role is to commercialise opportunities andintellectual property developed by the University of Waikato. WaikatoLink’s office issituated at Waikato Innovation Park, in order to enhance the linkages between theUniversity of Waikato and innovative and entrepreneurial organisations.Commercialisation facilitates: industry and business access to university technologies expansion of research opportunities for the university increased opportunities to form mutually beneficial industry partnerships andcollaborations, and increased work experience and employment opportunities for students.To effectively commercialise University of Waikato-generated intellectual property,WaikatoLink Ltd undertakes four main functions:commercialisationintellectual property managementtechnology development (The HotHouse), andbuilding industry linkage.Commercialisation successes of WaikatoLink include the following firms: 11Ants Analytics build powerful software that makes data mining simple andaccessible to non-technical people. Endace designs, develops, sells and supports high-speed network packetcapture technology, and is now a United Kingdom-listed global business sellingproducts in over 30 countries. Graftoss is a medical device company that is developing a range of orthopaedicdevices, which have bone graft and bone replacement applications. Novatein specialises in the development of bio-degradable plastic materials. Obodies is developing a new paradigm of high affinity proteins for medicalapplications, which may provide various advantages over currently availableantibody proteins. RuralLink provides wireless broadband services to remote rural areas throughits no8wireless and lightwire brands. Solenza is a solar energy company that is developing building-integrated solarroofing materials. Zygem is a rapidly growing biotechnology company that has developed a rangeof innovative enzyme-based products and technologies.11.3.2 Waikato Institute of TechnologyAccording to the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010, one of the three core roles ofInstitutes of Technology and Polytechnics is to “to undertake applied research thatsupports vocational learning and technology transfer” 397 .397Ministry of Education (2010, p. 18).Page 134 Doc # 2069885