FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 ,2008

 'From Lab to Market' debuts

YUTHANA PRAIWAN

Although people tend to view scientists as a bunch of geeks from another planet, the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) hopes to bring those prominent ideas from laboratories to the market. ''From Lab to Market'' is the NTSTDA's solution to getting business operators and scientists to work together.

''Whether it works will depend on universities, state agencies or even independent R&D houses. We will try our best to help realise commercial launches through our programme,'' said Chachanat Thebtaranonth, the vice-president of the NSTDA, a state agency responsible for R&D and its promotion.

She says the programme is a collaborative effort between the agency and Thammasat University in a bid to enhance the country's competitiveness and help pave the way to success for both scientists and business operators.

Business operators normally earmark small budgets for R&D because they cannot afford to fail. Researchers, on the other hand, have invented many things but are unable to put them into commercial use.

To link the two sides, the programme holds an annual four-day camping targeting 60 participants from different fields such as scientists, researchers, technicians, manufacturers as well as marketing professionals.

''This is an event that create a link between the thinkers and the investors,'' Dr Chachanat said. New ideas will never materialise without funding while a great product will never hit the market without its researchers.

She said South Korean companies who were successful in the industrial sector had set huge R&D budgets, not only for their in-house departments but also for state and private universities.

The first From Lab to Market camp just ended last month, with the NSTDA sending its in-house researchers to join business executives from various fields.

After the camping activity ended, the grouped participants are required to come up with business plans for new products developed by those researchers and submit them to the NSTDA Technopreneurship Prizes, a national contest also held by the NSTDA.

The winner will be sent to compete in the Asian Idea to Product Contest in December and then to a similar global competition in the US next year.

The NSTDA's research teams are now producing 40 reports, most of which are waiting to be picked up and commercialised by the business sector.

The agency has succeeded in selling innovative ideas such as tooth implants, nanotechnology used in sportswear, and thermal and solar-cell systems