Change to Success

In a world where innovation is considered to be a key driver for a new economy, Higher Education Institutions (HEI) can play a pivotal role. With this understanding, HEI in Latin America, have become significantly more entrepreneurial over the last decades in order to perform their “third mission” – provide a greater benefit to society. UniTransfer, the project that gives birth to this book, emerges as a response to a better understanding of the nature of knowledge and technology transfer (KTT), presenting interesting alternative approaches to KTT such as; “Science-to-business marketing”; “Partnering approaches for knowledge transfer” and “Academic Entrepreneurship”; further it offers tools and proposes actions to implement change from within the structures of HEIs in Central America and Mexico. This publication portrays the projects developed by the participants from UniTransfer – Executive Training Course. Each chapter constitutes an approach and a good practice that can be further consulted by any other academic institution in a similar context striving for change to success. Moreover, the projects developed from each participant illustrate the specific profiles, visions and missions, as well as organisational and governance frameworks that the new leadership in higher education needs to embrace if it ought to fulfil its new entrepreneurial role beyond the traditional boundaries of the HEI. “The UniTransfer Executive Training Course at Münster University of Applied Sciences, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica and Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, helped me to think in markets and beyond my own institution and role as an academic. The visits to the technology parks and to the transfer agencies in Münster, San José and Pachuca helped me to bring new models to be adapted to our region.” José Luis Antón de la Concha, Vice rector of Research, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, México “After UniTransfer I realize that university-business linkages can make a great contribution to the development of our countries and societies. Sharing different points of views and experiences has been beneficial for new knowledge acquisition and invaluable friendship from Costa Rica, Mexico, Germany, Spain and Australia. Thank you all!“ Marcelino Antonio Castro-Baltodano, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniaría, Nicaragua