MGRP: Enabling Boundary-Breaking Innovation Through Academia and High Tech Industry Collaboration

In 1996, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council was established as an economic development initiative of the University of Central Florida, the University of South Florida, and the University of Florida with a mission to attract, retain, and grow high tech industry and innovation—and the workforce to support it—in a 23-county region. Recognizing the importance of high tech innovation to the overall region's economic health and growth, it established its cornerstone Matching Grants Research Program (MGRP), connecting local high tech companies with university researchers to further technological innovation and introduce new technologies into the marketplace. Since its inception, the MGRP has contributed to more than 120 patents and generated more than $1 billion in downstream economic impacts. The MGRP model for economic development has been internationally recognized by organizations such as the State Science & Technology Institute for its support of technology commercialization and regional workforce development. This paper demonstrates the far-reaching impacts of partnering with MGRP through three success stories of National Academy of Inventors Fellows who have become leaders within their respective industries thanks to the boundary-breaking collaborations introduced by MGRP.