Urals? academia and business to pool efforts in university innovation support

Ural Federal University and Yekaterinburg-based Promavtomatika in the mid-Urals have agreed to create a joint innovation support system in the area.

Ural Federal University (UrFU) announced earlier this month that it has signed a collaboration agreement with Promavtomatika, a Yekaterinburg-based company, on the development of a joint infrastructure system to support UrFU?s innovative spin-off companies. Collaboration is already under way, the university emphasized. One of the new projects initiated by UrFU scientists has been packaged and developed from a prototype to a pre-industrial unit with active participation from Promavtomatika and its CEO Alexander Ponomarev. This is what UrFU referred to as an ?electronic sleuthhound? designated Alert, an instrument believed to be able to detect even the smallest particles of an explosive. The project initiator is Sfera, a university spin-off. Promavtomatika is reported to have plans to also invest in other UrFU spin-offs that are expected to become part of the new Aatrax high-tech park to be created on the premises of the Yekaterinburg company. UrFU is expected to soon become a shareholder of the techno-park and be present in its management firm. University professors will join the techno-park?s expert panel, and UrFU?s internal innovation infrastructure will be offering the techno-park its projects and training specialists...