Universities are desperate to turn academic outputs into technologies that are used to deliver better outcomes for patients and to drive an income for the university. Unfortunately this has been rarely successful and in this talk I will explain my thoughts on why the current structure of universities is not likely to change this success rate. I will also explore the contribution of research to the advancement of orthopaedic surgery to date, address the challenges/barriers for translating orthopaedic research into clinical practice. Finally we will look at current/future technologies that can best facilitate translation of research into clinical practice.