Abstract Higher education systems evolved in recent decades. Universities must not only provide society with capable professionals but also act in the market for technologies, knowledge, and ideas to promote technological development. This paper discusses the motivational performance evaluation system for technology transfer process, specifically the patterns’ evaluation of academic units considering micro-cultures and idiosyncrasies’ analysis, in the academic context of autonomy. Based on action research, the existing performance evaluation system was assessed, and multivariate cluster analysis was proposed and tested as a method to enable micro cultures’ identification and evaluation. The analysis proposed enabled a tool for reflexive discussion regarding the effectiveness of the institutional innovation system in academic units and Engineering Education, and its implications for social and technological development of industry and society enabled action proposals for improvement in the university’s technology transfer management process.

Technological innovation is represented by the conversion of knowledge into new products and processes which, when commercialized, generate wealth. In relations with companies, universities' role is to develop scientific knowledge, fostering industry's R&D activities. This article proposes an analysis of the technology transfer process performed by public universities in Brazil. Results demonstrate that universities are facing difficulties in requesting and licensing patents based on scientific results, due to lack of commercial contact with companies and their limitations in adapting available technologies. The increase in scientific output is not being effectively transformed into new technologies for products and services, exposing the necessity for new policies to approach university-industry relations. For universities, this may mean rethinking the role of patents in the technology transfer process, such as increasing co-authorship with companies and have companies support technological research within the university, instead of investing in legal protection, distant from market needs.

Abstract: We present in this paper a case of technological competence development in the aerospace sector in Brazil, by addressing the complete cycle of integrated circuits for satellite applications, an area of high technology which is strategic to the country. The development of technological and business competences is linked to an understanding of the existing relations between different participating institutions, both public and private. There is an effort to establish a network for the development of radiation-hard integrated circuits in Brazil, comprising universities, research centers, private companies, design houses, funding and governmental agencies. These institutions have been working to define their roles, through participation in federally funded projects to develop robust component technology for the aerospace industry in Brazil. As a means to maintain and improve this network, it is suggested that long term planning tools such as technology roadmaps be adopted, as well as measures to increase awareness of and help clarify intellectual property issues, which is considered a significant bottleneck to advance technology development in this area. In this sense, open innovation may be considered an alternative for competitively enhancing the outcomes of the sector.