Ultratec wins international research park honor

The University Research Park‘s largest tenant, Ultratec Inc., will receive the Company of the Year award today from an international organization representing more than 230 university-affiliated parks.

Ultratec’s award is part of the 15th annual conference of the Association of University Related Research Parks, held this year in Boulder, Colo. The award honors companies that demonstrate exemplary growth, innovation and commitment to the community.

Founded in 1978, Ultratec has become the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of text telecommunications devices (TTYs) for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. The company employs more than 200 people and occupies two major buildings in the research park.

“Ultratec is one of the great pure examples of technology transfer coming from university research,” says park director Mark Bugher, who nominated Ultratec for the award. “The significant public benefit of its products is something we’re very proud of.”

Bugher noted that company founder and president Robert Engelke developed the technology as a UW–Madison engineering student and later as a psychology research specialist in the 1970s. Engelke’s devices were a major improvement over the inadequate and overpriced products on the market.

Today, the company has more than 20 patents, and is the leading supplier worldwide of TTYs for consumers, government agencies, emergency service providers, and other public facilities.

Ultratec’s commitment to equal access goes beyond its products. The company actively recruits and hires employees who have disabilities and has designed its workplace to be barrier-free.

“It is truly a great honor for Ultratec to be selected for this award,” says Engelke. “The availability of trained professionals and in-depth information resources from UW–Madison in virtually every field has proven to be a great asset to us.”

Ultratec works closely with UW–Madison through groups such as the Trace Center, a national leader in making technologies such as computers, automatic-teller machines, information kiosks and the Internet more accessible to people with all types of disabilities.

AURRP is devoted to promoting the interests of university-affiliated research parks and technology incubators around the world. In 1996, UW–Madison’s park won AAURP’s first-ever Outstanding Research Park achievement award.

URP, located on Madison’s west side, focuses on aiding the development of research-based companies in Dane County. The park is home to 88 companies employing more than 2,600 people.