The office of Research and Technology Transfer (RTT) is the focal point for Research and Technology Transfer at Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT). Basic, applied, and commercial research are all essential fundamentals to enhance the student's education experience, attract highly qualified students, attract highly qualified faculty, and translate research for the good of the public. The office is in charge of the overall coordination of research programs, technology transfer and business incubation as well as establishing the core competence laboratories.
The office is established with the following vision, mission and goals.
Vision
The RTT office of Addis Ababa Institute of Technology envisions to become a leader in conducting world-class research and technology transfer in Africa.
Mission
To develop and expand innovative research programs that align well with institutional mission and strategic plan, address important national and global needs, and through technology transfer and commercialization noticeably support the economic development. The office exists to serve the faculty, staff, students, and administration of the Institute and the public by carrying out its mission to:
- Encourage entrepreneurial skills and innovation at AAiT.
- Identify and evaluate new AAiT technologies
- Transfer the results of AAiT research to the public by bringing researchers and the business community together in a relationship of mutual advantage.
- Identify potential commercial applications and those companies that are well positioned to help turn these technologies into successful products and services
- Engage with such companies, either through licensing or collaborative research, to develop a path to market to deliver the tangible benefits of AAiT’s research programs
- Contribute to local, state, regional and national business competitiveness and economic development.
- Protect the Intellectual Property (IP) rights of AAiT by patent, copyright, or other means.
- Generate income for future research and education.
Goals
The office strives to achieve its mission and vision through the achievement of the following goals:
- Provide service and resources to faculty, students and staff that stimulate research and other creative endeavors.
- Facilitate and enhance partnerships and collaborations between faculty, government, foundations, industry and global research enterprises.
- Expand regional, national, and international partnerships with industry, government, and academia in economic development.
- Foster research partnerships, integrating research programs across the institute, and promoting opportunities for collaboration with other Institutes, as well as the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors.
- Promote the protection, transferring, and commercialization of intellectual property, and develop links to economic development
- Communicate the value and impacts of AAiT research to the public.
- Build and sustain strategic research clusters of excellence that leverage existing Institute strengths, match well with future directions of the university, offer good career opportunities for graduates that are of strategic importance to AAiT and the nation, and are in areas attracting significant extramural funding.
- Promote alignment and optimization of graduate programs with respect to the strategic research clusters, including through development of distinctive doctoral programs, and to expand research opportunities and resources that attract and support a robust number of postdoctoral fellows