How the University of Minnesota Turns Research Into Local Business Opportunities

There are about 48,000 students enrolled at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, making it one of the largest public-research universities in the country. In 2012, UMTC ranked 14th nationally in higher-education research-and-development spending, putting it above MIT. The U (as the Twin Cities campus is known locally) has an $8 million economic impact on the metropolitan area each year, according to university officials. That calculation doesn't include the impact of research discoveries. But here are some statistics: Since 2007, 65 companies have come out of university research. Last year, the university filed 148 patents on behalf of Minnesota professors and students. According to the Brookings Institution, cities with high patenting rates tend to have lower unemployment rates.

Wang, with his three companies and 39 patents, is unusual even by top research university standards. Wang was born in China, and has worked at Minnesota since 2002 as a member of the electrical- and computer-engineering department. His enthusiasm for his subject is infectious. Most entrepreneurs have a story about working night and day to launch a business. Wang's story is about working night and day to build a machine that turns disks of carbon or iron cobalt into impossibly tiny, magnetic particles. The machine, which fills most of a room in Wang's lab, looks like a metal cylinder exploding.