Abstract
Universities are increasingly feeling the need to commercialize the results of their research. This article describes the experiences of one of the major UK institutions established for this purpose, Vuman Ltd. The company was established in 1981 by the Victoria University of Manchester for the purpose of exploiting technology arising from research from within the university. Vuman Ltd is a multi-activity company, with interests ranging from contract research, the implementation of expert systems, and the manufacture of scientific and medical equipment. It offers a software systems house and provides a patenting and licensing service to the university. The origins of Vuman are described, together with its modus operandi, and the consequences of success and failure are discussed.
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