While UW-Milwaukee aims to expand its research capacity as a way to catalyze new jobs and investment – it is adding programs in engineering and water technology – the school barely registers on one of the nationâ??s most crucial measures of innovation: the annual tally of newly issued U.S. patents. In 2009, the number totaled three.
The stateâ??s flagship research university in Madison, by contrast, ranks near the top of the national tables with 117 patents last year. That puts UW-Madison at No. 3 behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No. 2 (132 patents in 2009) and the entire 10-campus University of California system at No. 1 (172 patents). Californiaâ??s state system, which includes UC-Berkeley and UCLA, assigns patents under a single entity.