Promoting the transformation of key technologies of new materials with a professional platform——Exploration and practice of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

New materials are the foundation and forerunner for the development of high-tech industries in the future, and are listed as one of
the seven key strategic emerging industries in China.
China has achieved a number of original innovation and major achievements with great application value in the field of new materials, but it is necessary to pass the follow-up verification, application and promotion of the transformation of achievements in order to form new products or new processes
.
Exploring the transformation mode of new material scientific and technological achievements suitable for China's national conditions is one of the effective ways to improve the transformation efficiency of new material scientific and technological achievements and solve the key applications of
new materials in China.
In this regard, Chinese Academy of Sciences Holdings Co.
, Ltd.
established a market-oriented professional new material achievement transformation platform in 2018, aiming to open up the whole chain from technology research and development to the implementation of industrial application
.

The "valley of death" for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements

For a long time, there has been a phenomenon
of "two skins" in scientific research and economy in China.
On the one hand, after obtaining scientific research projects and completing relevant scientific research tasks, researchers often do not have enough energy and resources to promote the industrialization of their achievements; On the other hand, some researchers are not familiar with investment agreements, VAM clauses, exit requirements and many other conditions
with strong constraints.
Due to the lack of professional teams who understand the transformation of achievements, the transformation projects often have twists and turns, and the success rate is relatively low, which eventually leads to many achievements being shelved in the laboratory, forming the "valley of death" phenomenon
in the process of transformation of achievements.

At present, in the process of transforming the achievements of key technologies of new materials in China, the representative challenges faced are mainly manifested in the following two aspects
.

On the one hand, the new products in the laboratory stage lack application evaluation, the new process cannot be scaled up and verified, and the technology cannot achieve a complete closed loop
.
Taking semiconductor materials as an example, the team leader of a key laboratory of polymer materials of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has been committed to the domestic replacement of key supporting materials in the semiconductor field after returning to China, and has successfully developed a high-performance resin small test sample for chip multilayer wiring and packaging, but is stuck in
looking for downstream wafer companies to do tape-out testing and product evaluation.
Due to the high cost and risk of conducting verification tests of primary tape-out lines, wafer companies are reluctant to invest money and equipment to evaluate the application of uncertain domestic alternative products
.
However, the sample cannot be finalized and evaluated, the technology cannot achieve a closed loop, and the subsequent mass production cannot be put into large quantities
.

In terms of amplification and verification of achievements, for example, the team of a key laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has been committed to the development of high-end polyolefin products of non-metallocene catalytic systems, and the indicators of the new polyolefin elastomer samples developed can be benchmarked against mature products, and the raw materials of the new route are easy to obtain and low cost, which is very economically competitive
.
However, because the research group did not have engineering capabilities, nor did they have the energy and time to connect with relevant industrialization resources, the original innovative technology has always stayed in the laboratory trial stage
.

On the other hand, due to the lack of engineering capabilities of the R&D team, the independent development, amplification and rights and interests of original technologies cannot be guaranteed
.
Due to the lack of engineering amplification capabilities, scientific research teams often need to rely on external design institutes or engineering teams to jointly complete industrialization, and in the process of technical disclosure of basic research and development in the early stage, once the identification and protection of intellectual property rights are not in place, their own rights and interests are easy to lose protection
.

Solve three major challenges with a professional platform

The technology transformation in the field of new materials in China needs to solve three core challenges: first, complete the closed loop of technology and realize the integrity of technology; The second is to complete the engineering of technology and realize the realizability of technology; The third is to complete the application and promotion of technology and realize the economy of
technology.

Based on these challenges, Chinese Academy of Sciences Holdings Co.
, Ltd.
established a market-oriented professional new material achievement transformation platform - Guoke New Material Technology Co.
, Ltd.
in 2018, striving to promote the transformation of a number of original and leading major scientific and technological achievements in the field of new materials of the Chinese Academy of Sciences faster and better through the exploration of new material achievement transformation models, and provide reference
for the transformation mode of domestic new materials achievements.

The industrialization platform adopts the organizational structure design of the combination of software and hardware (alliance + base) and parent-subsidiary (strategy + landing), that is, the platform initiates the establishment of the New Material Technology Innovation and Industrialization Alliance of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is responsible for docking the innovation end and the industrial end
。 On the one hand, the platform has professional project screening, intellectual property operation, investment strategy and other teams in the Beijing headquarters, mainly undertaking the functions of strategic traction, resource docking and integration, and technology integration scheme design; On the other hand, in the layout of a number of new material industry provinces, through cooperation with local governments, combined with local resource endowments and industrial base, the construction and operation of regional new material pilot transformation bases, the base has a professional engineering team, project operation and maintenance team, responsible for the landing and transformation
of specific projects.

New scientific and technological achievements can be smoothly transformed
through the links of "R&D-pilot-industrialization".
Internationally, the capital investment ratio of these three links is 1:10:100
.
According to relevant data, the current domestic is only 1:0.
7:100
.
The platform takes the initiative to assume the riskiest part of the transformation process, and establishes pilot bases in regional distribution points by cooperating with local governments to verify the feasibility of technology in the production process and reduce the risk of
large-scale production.
The platform also builds a professional pilot project construction and operation team, including project demonstration, project construction, project operation, testing and analysis, process optimization, safety management, etc.
, and thoroughly opens up the whole chain from technology research and development to the implementation of industrial application
.

The ultimate goal of the platform is to do everything possible to improve the technological maturity of the key core technologies of new materials, and to cover professionals who understand technology, engineering, market and intellectual property
.
First, understand the technology, the laboratory small test technology can be received, that is, in the project screening and docking stage, the team has professional technical communication and analysis capabilities, and can evaluate the original innovative technology and judge the commercialization prospects
.
The second is to understand the project, and the pilot test can be verified and amplified
.
During the project maturation phase, the team has the ability to
engineer implementation.
The third is to understand the market, mature technology can be
transferred.
In the stage when the project is mature enough to carry out the construction of industrialized demonstration equipment and industrialization promotion, the team has the ability to
promote technology.
The fourth is to understand intellectual property rights and realize the value-added and monetization
of technology in the whole process of transformation.
As an intangible asset, technology is the main link between partners to achieve the binding of interests
.
In the whole process of technology maturation, the team has the ability of full-process intellectual property management and high-value patent cultivation
.

Let professional people do professional things

The purpose of the establishment of the new material achievement transformation platform is to let professional people do professional things and focus on the achievement transformation without
distraction.
Scientific researchers focus on innovation, entrepreneurs focus on industry, and transformed people focus on transformation, each performing their own duties, focusing on their respective main owners' responsibilities
.

At the same time, the platform effectively integrates the resources in the hospital through institutionalization and intensification, better realizes technology integration, gives full play to the advantages of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as a national strategic scientific and technological force, serves 19 scientific research institutions in the Alliance of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and better achieves the integration of technology and resources
in the whole academy 。 On the one hand, the platform can better realize the integration of upstream and downstream industrial chains, such as the technologies of different chain segments in the entire industrial chain belong to different scientific research institute teams, and through the integration of technologies, a package of solutions can be provided; On the other hand, the construction of regional pilot bases and engineering amplification and verification platforms with common technologies avoids the repeated investment
in personnel, funds, and sites of self-built pilot bases by scientific research institutions.

It is worth mentioning that the platform maintains relative independence in technology development and maximizes the market value
of technology monetization.
In the process of technology development, the scientific research team and the technology transformation platform are completely consistent with the goals, in order to allow the key core technologies with commercialization prospects to achieve as much industrial application as possible after maturity, maximize the realization of technology monetization, and reflect the market value
of the technology.
This kind of cooperation avoids some potential limitations
in the subsequent development and promotion of immature technologies after they are initially bound to an industrial party.

After practical exploration, the new material achievement transformation platform has figured out the family background, and established a dynamic update of multi-level technical achievement information database; A preliminary technical evaluation system has been established; Establish a dynamically updated database of technical achievements
.
As a new mode of exploration of achievement transformation, the platform belongs to the pioneering attempt from 0 to 1, and is gradually improved
in the first mover and first trial.
For example, the management measures for the pilot base are the first in China, and the completed "Engineering Research and Construction Plan for the Pilot Base" opens up the whole process of the pilot project to settle in the pilot base, and provides an institutional guarantee
for the project to carry out the pilot test.

At present, a number of achievement transformation projects of the platform have made phased progress
.
In the process of technology maturation, the platform, as the main organizer and promoter, occupies a certain proportion of intellectual property ownership or income rights
in the final set of technologies.
These intangible assets are the core assets of the platform, enabling the platform to realize the economic benefits
brought by technology monetization through technology licensing, transfer or equity investment.
In this way, the platform has the ability to self-hematopoiesis, and the proceeds are fed back into the maturation of new technology development, and finally a virtuous circle
is realized.

(The author is the assistant general manager of the technology department of Guoke New Material Technology Co.
, Ltd.
)