(415b) University and Industry Collaboration on Commodity Versus Entrepreneurial Products

University and industrial collaborations can cover a range of activities from fundamental research on totally new products versus process enhancements on existing commodity products. The area of carbon products, in which hydrocarbons are converted to solid carbon for various applications, provides a study in contrasts. For example, hydrocarbons can be converted to carbon nanomaterials, representing a new family of products with applications that are as yet not completely determined, but which might include both electrical property enhancement as well as structure property enhancement of nanocomposite materials. Conversely, carbon products also involve the production of commodity carbons for metals smelting such as anode carbon and artificial graphite. In this case, the synthesis of the product itself has already been reduced to practice by industry. What remains, then, is the ability to develop new processes that can enhance the production economics or take advantage of new feedstocks; for example to augment dwindling North American supplies of petroleum derivatives for this purpose. The differing nature of entrepreneurially-based, new products such as nanocarbons, versus established commodity products such as carbons for metals smelting, leads to differing approaches to collaborative arrangements between industrial and university organizations. Both activities can be successful but require different working relationships between the organizations.