Industrial Collaboration

VISION

Understanding, defining, developing, testing, refining, manufacturing, and deploying the various technologies and components of the revolutionary observing system envisioned by CASA required the sustained collaboration of experts in multiple disciplines across academic, industrial, and government sectors. The aim of CASA's Industrial/Practitioner program was to create a "triple helix" partnership and collaboration between universities, firms that realize the technology, and public sector users of technology.

Our vision for knowledge dissemination and technology transfer was achieved by creating active partnerships with our practitioner partners in planning, research, education, and technology transfer.

Planning

Practitioner partners influenced CASA's strategic direction through the semi-annual industry advisory board meetings, participation in our systems design reviews for test beds, SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, and review, critique, and assistance with individual research projects.

Research Systems Implementation

Participation in the research and development of CASA's systems-level test beds was a significant component of our practitioner partnership program. Activities ranged from involvement in the development of component technologies (including solid-state radar design and real-time weather algorithm development), to receiving and using the data from DCAS systems. CASA's focus on creating a series of system-level test beds, with increasingly sophisticated technology and capabilities, helped to bridge the gap between industry's need for short term results and academia's longer term research goals.

Education and Outreach

Our education and outreach activities reached students, our practitioner members, and CASA researchers through seminars, faculty/engineer exchanges, and hiring/student internships. 

Technology Transfer

Technology transfer occured in four different ways, including: knowledge transfer through the academic/practitioner partnerships; use of DCAS data for the creation of value-added products and decision support tools; commercialization of component technologies; and, over the longer term, system deployment. In addition, our Intellectual Property (IP) policy,  which provided for non-exclusive, royalty free access to CASA IP, encouraged our principal partners to license IP and then to create additional sponsored research contracts to develop products from CASA's proof-of-concept technology offerings.