Thomas Adewumi University hosted the June Edition of its KnowledgeX Series on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. The monthly knowledge-sharing platform, dedicated to promoting intellectual discourse and professional development, welcomed academic staff and scholars across various disciplines, including virtual participants from institutions outside TAU.
The session, themed "Intellectual Goldmine: Unlocking Wealth Through Academic Innovation," featured Engr. Dr. Adekunle Adeleke, a prolific researcher, academic innovator, and current Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Nile University of Nigeria. A COREN-registered Engineer with over 220 publications and 5 patents, Dr. Adeleke brought a wealth of experience to the discussion.
The Coordinator of Human Capacity Development and host of the session, Dr. Samuel Farohunbi, opened the event by welcoming participants, stating: "Welcome to another edition of the TAU KnowledgeX Series, a gathering of knowledge sharing with topics that resonate with everyone in the academic world." He emphasized the series' commitment to delivering discussions that drive relevance and impact within academia.
In his presentation, Dr. Adeleke introduced the session with a compelling quote: "Academics must move beyond the classroom and begin to unlock wealth from their intellectual strength and capacity. Our ideas, research, innovations, and solutions are goldmines if we learn to refine them, package them, and position them in the market of relevance, impact, and income."
He explained how technological advancement has heightened the need for academic institutions to transition from traditional roles of teaching and research to becoming active participants in economic ecosystems. Central to his discussion was the Triple Helix Model of Innovation, a framework emphasizing the synergy between academia, industry, and government as a driver of innovation and wealth creation.
Using the University of Cambridge as a case study, he demonstrated how academic innovation can produce exponential societal and economic value through startups, partnerships, and workforce development. He noted that scientific breakthroughs are shaping new markets in health, energy, and materials, underscoring the growing influence of academic contributions on global innovation.
Dr. Adeleke went on to outline ways of unlocking wealth as individual academics, including Patent filings, Intellectual property (IP) ownership and licensing revenues, Research commercialization and technology transfer, University-industry collaborations, Startup formation and academic spinoffs, and Publishing quality research papers and books.
Each avenue was explained with practical relevance to the academic audience, as he highlighted both the challenges and opportunities in pursuing wealth through innovation. He also outlined actionable strategies, such as: Forming Research Groups, Engaging in Intentional Research and academic-industry proposals, and Registering with ALCS (Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society) to generate passive royalty income.
During a hands-on walkthrough, Dr. Adeleke demonstrated to participants how to register with ALCS, submit their publications, and identify suitable journals (e.g., Springer, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Nature, Wiley, Oxford University Press). He emphasized the benefits of publishing in these high-impact platforms to increase citations, downloads, and royalties, ultimately enhancing visibility, peer recognition, and consulting opportunities.
In his concluding remarks, Dr. Adeleke stressed: "Patents protect your genius and open doors to commercialization. Visibility leads to access to partnerships, projects, and professional growth." Participants were allowed to ask questions, engaging the facilitator in a meaningful discussion on practical steps to apply the knowledge shared.
The event once again affirmed TAU’s dedication to promoting academic excellence, innovation, and capacity building within and beyond the University community.