Kuala Lampur, June 21 -- Universities around the world produce thousands of patents, inventions and research breakthroughs each year. Yet many never progress beyond the laboratory, prototype or patent stage to create tangible benefits for industry and society. Studies of university patent commercialisation have repeatedly highlighted the same challenge: generating knowledge is only the first step, and turning it into real-world impact is often far more difficult.

This raises an uncomfortable but important question: why do so many university innovations struggle to travel beyond campus? The answer is not always weak science or a lack of novelty. In many cases, the research is rigorous, the evidence is strong and the technology works as in...