There is quite a bit being written about this. One of the reasons professors do not commercialize their research is the reward system. When they go up every year for promotion, or for merit review, they are judged based on their peer-reviewed journal publications, conference proceedings, and their teaching performance. Also, about 20% of their review is based on service. There is a perception that nowhere in the formula of 100% is commercialization considered.
We have a very similar review process at Waterloo. We don't give you extra marks for studying a company. We consider your patents, but I think it's the culture. We basically say to the professors with students, “If you want to commercialize, you go ahead and you do it. It's very important you make sure you teach your classes and you treat the students well.” I don't think we do anything differently in terms of a reward system. I think it's basically our ingrained culture that we encourage and foster our innovation and commercialization.