Western University’s Research Parks have been ranked 22nd in the world by Swedish research company UBI Index in its Global Top 25 University Business Incubators 2014.
Western Research Parks performed exceptionally well compared to UBI’s global benchmark on post-incubation performance indicators. This signifies that clients of Western Research Parks generate positive economic impact for the region. Furthermore Western Research Parks clients have higher survival and growth rates than the global average.
"Western has clear goals to create a world-class research and scholarship culture at the university and across the region," said Paul Paolatto, Director of Western Research Parks. "These rankings demonstrate that the investment in these facilities, and the research expertise we are able to offer our industry partners is drawing attention from around the world and benefitting the local economy."
UBI assessed 800 business incubators, accepted 400 into the program and finally benchmarked more than 300 university-affiliated business incubators in 67 countries, ultimately placing Western in the top 25.
Incubators were compared in three performance categories:
- Value to the “ecosystem”, which includes economy enhancement and talent retention;
- Value to the client, including access to funds, competence development, and access to a network; and
- Attractiveness of the incubation program, including the incubator’s offer to stakeholders and post-incubation performance.
In total, more than 60 key performance indexes have been used to compare the incubation programs worldwide.
"Western Research Parks is one of the top business incubators in the world," said Dhruv Bhatli, Co-founder, UBI Index. "It provides great value to its clients which generate high economic impact on the region."
For nearly three decades, Western Research Parks have served as a strong link between academics and commerce, and a key contributor to the movement of ideas or discoveries from concept to the marketplace. The Parks are currently housed on three sites.
Western’s Advanced Manufacturing Park is home to the Fraunhofer Project Centre for Composites Research, the WindEEE Research Institute and The Collider, a facility opened earlier this week that is designed to bring together researchers and industry under one roof to collaborate, innovate and bring new technologies to world markets.
The original Park, now called Western Discovery Park, is home to over 200,000 square feet of office space, lab space and industrial grade space, including the Stiller Centre for Technology Commercialization, one of Canada’s most successful biotechnology incubators.
The Western-Sarnia-Lambton Research Park was established in 2003 as a joint initiative of the County of Lambton, the City of Sarnia, and Western University. Located adjacent to Lambton College, the Park is home to the Bowman Centre for Technology Commercialization, Canada’s largest clean-tech incubator, focused on large scale industrial biotechnology. Conference facilities at the Park play host to a number of local, regional, and national events each year. Tenants range from large multi-national companies, to non-profit organizations, to small start-up companies and commercialization projects.
The United States had the most incubators on UBI’s Top 25 with four. Canada and China tied for second, each with three incubators on the list. Joining Western in the ranking from Canada are Ryerson University’s DMZ and University of Alberta’s TEC Edmonton.
More information on this year’s rankings is available at http://ubiindex.com/rankings/
ABOUT WESTERN
Western delivers an academic experience second to none. Since 1878, The Western Experience has combined academic excellence with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social and cultural growth in order to better serve our communities. Our research excellence expands knowledge and drives discovery with real-world application. Western attracts individuals with a broad worldview, seeking to study, influence and lead in the international community.
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