Bottom line, when the university licenses with companies — either start-ups or established ones — "our objective is to maximize the return to the university and maximize the potential for the technology to be used," he said.

The state tries to help jump-start research into the private sector through its Centers of Excellence program, which can provide matching funds for up to five years for the development of promising technology. Keene, the director of the Centers program, said more than 150 companies have spun out from it. This year's applicants include technology ranging from a new way to get rid of head lice to state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicles, he said.

Keene, like other state officials trying to boost the state's tech sector, lamented how often technology has left the state — either in terms of companies or jobs or both. The Centers program, he said, is trying to prevent situations "where tremendous advances, really emerging technologies, developed exciting new products and services and created a lot of jobs and drew a great deal of attention and notoriety elsewhere, instead of here in Utah where it belongs."

Rod Linton, director of the Utah Technology Alliance, said tech-based economic development "is one of the most important things going on in all of Utah" and said Utah is well-positioned for it.

"For us in Utah, we have been blessed in ways that are just almost hard to comprehend," he said, referring to the three research universities with strong technology transfer offices.

"Success in tech-based economic development is very much dependent on the presence of very fine, strong research universities. If you do not have those universities, trying to establish a tech-based economic development program is almost impossible."

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com