Reshaping university-industry partnerships.

Business and industry are more dependent on university research than they have been in the past, maintains Paul McSweeny, director of industrial outreach, Ohio State University, Columbus. However, universities and industry are going to have to change their current views on partnering if both institutions are to profit in the future.

He says there is good and bad news regarding university-industry relationships. "The good news is that some of the traditional difficulties that have slowed these partnerships have been overcome. The bad news is that the drop in governmental support for research may affect what these partnerships can produce."

McSweeny believes that the industrial and university communities need to join forces to call for more governmental support for academic research. "There has to be more of a coalition behind the effort to recognize the role...