Our position at McMaster is that universities don't do commerce, but they facilitate commerce. That means our job is to create a culture and systems that allow students and faculty members who would like to commercialize to move in this direction. In doing that we create a system that will really maximize the potential of the university.
The role of the private sector in some areas of research is obviously quite important. In our university in some areas like manufacturing and engineering, for example, approximately 35% of the total funding comes from industry.
So industry plays an important role and it's a good role. It's something we encourage significantly.