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Industry Resources & Liaison

As a land grant university and Connecticut’s only public research institution, the University of Connecticut plays a key role as a resource for Connecticut industry and as a partner to support economic development. The Tech-Knowledge Portal is UConn’s front door for industry, acting as a liaison for companies and entrepreneurs who seek assistance and access to UConn’s wide variety of technology, expertise, and resources.

There are numerous academic departments, research institutes and centers, programs, and subject matter experts that may be able to play a supporting role in the growth of Connecticut’s businesses. There are also library resources, databases, seminars, learning opportunities, and student-engaged programs that may assist businesses in achieving their objectives.

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Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

The University of Connecticut is home to more than 85 Academic Centers and several Research Centers; many have the potential to provide expertise, research, interns and employees, and other forms of assistance to industry. The Office of Technology Commercialization supports tech transfer and tech-based economic development initiatives, while various institutes, schools, and programs can be accessed to support Connecticut's business and industries.

Centers and programs that have well-established links to industry have websites highlighting their respective activities. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of how or where UConn can support your company. Our researchers are engaged in a wide variety of research topics offering the potential to further the goals of industry; not all of this expertise or technology capacity is represented in a specific site. Visitors who seek expertise or contacts that are not listed here should visit the Tech-Knowledge Portal to learn more.

  • Office of Technology Commercialization: capitalizes on Connecticut's investment in world-class facilities, research and people to support the formation of new technology companies and jobs.
  • Office for Sponsored Programs: supports faculty-sponsored research activities at UConn. OSP is the central point of coordination for sponsored projects and the University's authorized representative for grants, contracts and other agreements from government agencies, private industry, and non-profit foundations.
  • Center for Clean Energy Engineering: performs research and collaborates with industry partners on the development of advanced renewable energy technologies.
  • Biofuel Consortium: this team of students and professors in the fields of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Plant Science, Economics, and Business advances the UConn biodiesel research initiative for the greater good of the environment, and helps gain national energy independence.
  • Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering: promotes multidisciplinary research, education and outreach in environmental sciences, engineering, policy, and sustainability. The Center provides infrastructural support to the faculty via its Analytical Laboratories and Business Office, and supports graduate education via Graduate Fellowships and Summer Research Awards.
  • Institute of Materials Science, Associates Program: has a long history of providing industry with a means to access faculty expertise and its extensive materials characterization capabilities for relatively short-term projects in research, development, manufacturing, quality, and production.
  • School of Engineering, Corporate and Community Partners: offers many avenues for businesses – from small startups to large manufacturing operations – to become involved with School of Engineering faculty and students.
  • School of Engineering, Entrepreneurial Senior Design Program: exposes engineering students to core business principles and nurtures their awareness of the entrepreneurial approach to capturing opportunities. In turn, participating MBA students are exposed to the engineering perspective, which allows them to better understand and appreciate the more analytical framework within which engineers conceive new ideas, solve technical challenges, and improve upon existing products.
  • UConn Health Center: Our scientists conduct innovative basic science, clinical, epidemiological, and biobehavioral research on a budget of more than $90 million a year. We also work collaboratively with researchers at private companies and other institutions, making our expertise, facilities, and equipment available to assist them in their work.
Legal Services

UConn's School of Law has been preparing students in the practice of Law since 1921. Two clinics offer legal services to Connecticut businesses:

  • Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic: provides students with the unique opportunity to counsel Connecticut's innovators on an extensive range of intellectual property (patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret) and related business law issues.
  • Mediation Clinic: a four-credit, one semester program in which students undergo intensive training in mediation and conflict resolution techniques in order to serve as mediators in selected Connecticut agencies and courts.

Entrepreneurship & Business-seeking Venture Growth

UConn's School of Business is the top-ranked public university in New England (U.S. News, 2011). Two outreach programs support Connecticut businesses by engaging students on business assistance projects with faculty guidance.

  • Innovation Accelerator: assists entrepreneurial ventures in addressing complex challenges associated with the identification and capture of business opportunities. The IA utilizes interdisciplinary project teams composed of graduate and undergraduate students that solve complex business issues for Connecticut's technology-based entrepreneurial ventures.
  • Venture Consulting Initiative: provides an experiential learning opportunity for undergraduate Business Management Majors who take the Venture Consulting course. Student consultants are responsible for identifying a client to work with on their own initiative and are exposed to a wide variety of problems that give them the opportunity to reality-test their classroom learning.

Education beyond UConn's Formal Degree Programs

Several educational programs are offered to support continuing education and the professional development of regional professionals:

  • Center for Continuing Studies: designs, plans, and manages credit and non-credit educational and outreach programs appropriate to the University's land grant mission of fostering engaged scholarship.
  • Connecticut Information Technology Institute (CITI): helps companies and their employees achieve their personal and professional IT objectives by teaching what works in the real world. Course offerings include business critical enterprise applications such as .NET, WebSphere, and SAS.
  • Corporate Workshops: provides intensive exercises, tutorials, and reviews on topics like Corporate Communications, Advanced Corporate Communications, Grammar Workshops, and Oral Presentations.
  • Executive Education: addresses executive education needs through customized programs and can include credit and non-credit programs.
  • Family Business Program: offers professional advice, education and peer networks designed to add value to family-owned and entrepreneurial organizations.
  • Program for Sales Leadership: develops future sales leaders by providing world-class courses in professional sales and sales leadership, based on the best practice and rigorous academic research; connects these future sales leaders with best practice sales organizations for student-run events, internships and full time employment; and works with these organizations to develop and disseminate research on high integrity best practices in professional sales and sales leadership.
  • SS&C Technologies Financial Accelerator: serves as a real-world lab for developing solutions to real insurance and financial services industry challenges. UConn's financial accelerator features a live trading floor, real-time stock feeds, a broad array of financial databases and software, and advanced enabling technology.

Career Services & Recruitment for UConn Graduates

Recruiters and business can take advantage of the following resources to identify and attract talent.

  • Career Services: helps recruitment by posting online job opportunities, holding on-campus interviews and career fairs, and partnering for workshops and other student-based activities.
  • Institute of Materials Science (IMS) Employment Center: connects IMS students with employers. Students can find jobs and post resumes; employers can post jobs and view resumes.