IPFW, Taiwan team for tech
Program lays the foundation for new business ventures
FORT WAYNE Northeast Indiana business leaders know money and manpower aren’t the only requirements for success.
They also need innovative ideas.
So when Max Yen saw an opportunity to establish a direct pipeline from here to his homeland of Taiwan, he jumped at it. And he inspired his employer to join him. Yen is dean of IPFW’s College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science.
IPFW officials on Wednesday signed an agreement with Taiwanese university officials to form the Global Alliance for Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship.
The partnership’s first technology showcase is scheduled for today. The Indiana-Taiwan Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship Summit will allow inventors to present 16 advanced technologies to potential investors. Admission is by invitation only.
Yen will be among the presenters. His intellectual property is a “universal wireless Internet data acquisition system.”
IPFW spokeswoman Nicole Wilkins said the two events were scheduled back-to-back to show the agreement is more than symbolic.
“This is something that’s going to last longer than just a one-time summit,” she said.
IPFW Chancellor Michael Wartell, who recently visited Taiwan, said the program lays the foundation for new business ventures in both countries. But his emphasis is on northeast Indiana.
“The globalization of the region is vital to our stake in the world economy,” he said in a written statement.
Despite its relatively small size, Taiwan is brimming with ideas. The country boasts more than 160 university-backed business incubators, compared with about a dozen in Indiana, Wilkins said.
“We are letting people know how big we can think,” Yen said in a statement. “This summit aids the process of creativity and creates enormous economic potential for businesses, research and education.”
The alliance will also lend legal support to possible partnerships, helping innovators and entrepreneurs negotiate details including government regulations, import-export laws, language differences and visa applications, Wilkins said.
The goal, Wartell said, is to create jobs and enhance regional economic development.
sslater@jg.net
MORE INFORMATION |
At a glance Local organizations included in the agreement with Taiwan are: IPFW, Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, Community Research Institute at IPFW, Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership |