Research on Technology Transfer Readiness Level and Its Application in University Technology Innovation Management

Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is an effective risk management measure used by NASA and DoD. Based on the idea of TRL, this paper developed and refined a new concept of University Technology Transfer Readiness Level (UTTRL). UTTRL comprises five distinct attributes, including technology maturity attribute, technology advancement attribute, technology demand attribute, technology criticality attribute, and stage in the industry life cycle. Each attribute is further divided into several levels with definitions and brief descriptions. The calculation of UTTRL-Index is also introduced in the paper. UTTRL explores a set of transfer readiness criteria and provides an approach to assess the preparation of university technology achievements for transfer. It can be used in the university technology innovation management as a risk management tool.