Research Commercialization Academy (BETA 0.01)

The National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2)

Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)

Association of American Universities (AAU)

Present

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Dr. Abigail Barrow
Founding Director of the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTTC)
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Mr. Doug Banks
Associate Vice President for Economic Development
University of Massachusetts System
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Ms. Nina Green
Director of Office for Technology Licensing and Industry Collaboration
Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center
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ABOUT THE WEBINAR:

Universities employ multiple strategies to encourage and support faculty entrepreneurship. Funding programs, mentoring, professional development, and other kinds of support can help to inspire faculty to become entrepreneurial with their research discoveries, and other mechanisms can help them to succeed. This webinar will explore the many ways that universities can scaffold faculty innovation and entrepreneurship, and how best to employ these strategies.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

Dr. Abigail Barrow
Founding Director of the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTTC)

Dr. Abigail Barrow is the Founding Director of the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTTC). She is responsible for the overall management of the MTTC and the development of its programs. Prior to joining the MTTC, Dr. Barrow served as managing director of William J. von Liebig Center at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The von Liebig Center was created in 2001 to support the commercialization of research being performed in the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering.

Dr. Barrow worked in a variety of roles at UCSD CONNECT from 1990 to 2001. At CONNECT, she developed and expanded many of its programs to support early-stage company formation and technology commercialization. The CONNECT program is internationally recognized and has been successfully replicated in many other regions around the world.

Dr. Barrow is on the board of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) and on the scientific advisory board of Norway's Simula Research Laboratory. She has also served as a member of the board of directors of the Center for the Commercialization of Advanced Technologies Consortium (CCAT), which assisted in the identification and commercialization of technologies in the area of crisis and consequence management and received more than $25 million in federal funding primarily from the Office of Naval Research.

Dr. Barrow received her Ph.D. from the Science Studies Unit and a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh.

Mr. Doug Banks
Associate Vice President for Economic Development
University of Massachusetts System

Doug Banks is associate vice president for economic development for the five-campus University of Massachusetts system, serving on the staff of President Robert L. Caret.

In this position, Doug is responsible for promoting and developing strategic partnerships among the campuses and between state and federal government, business and industry, and other public and private institutions of higher education. In addition, he is program manager for the President’s Science & Technology Initiatives Fund, an inter-campus grant program to strengthen the university’s R&D base and strengthen industry relationships.

Doug joined his alma mater following a career in technology and business journalism, most recently serving as publisher and editor of Mass High Tech, an information services company that includes a daily news web site, a biweekly print publication, e-newsletters and events that spotlight technology entrepreneurship, early-stage companies and emerging technologies in New England. In that role, Doug launched multiple new web sites and new industry-specific newsletters, winning regional and national awards.

Prior to MHT, Doug had been a writer and editor at the Boston Business Journal and at Fast Company magazine. He has also taught at such schools as Emerson College, Boston University, Endicott College and the University of Pittsburgh, and has been a guest lecturer at several other universities, including Tufts University and Boston College. He is a board member of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, where he chairs the Innovation Series committee; an active member of Calvary Christian Church in Lynnfield; and is married with two young children.

A native of Worcester, Doug received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Ms. Nina Green
Director of Office for Technology Licensing and Industry Collaboration
Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center

Ms. Green has had a highly experienced technology transfer professional, having held director positions at Harvard Medical School and Brown University. For the past ten year, Ms. Green has been the Director of the Tufts University Office for Technology and Industry Collaboration, an office of six professionals, which also has responsibility for the technology transfer activities of Tufts Medical Center. The office approximately generates $10,000,000 of licensing revenue annually and has been responsible for helping to launch several spin-out companies for both institutions. In addition to several large projects with other universities, Ms. Green has consulted to a variety of governmental and commercial organizations on technology licensing and university-industry relations. She has significant experience in licensing early-stage technology to start-up companies, particularly in the life sciences sector. She is an active member of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) and has been a frequent speaker on university technology licensing at AUTM and other professional organizations including the World Patent Organization and the Licensing Executive Society.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR:

Mr. James Woodell
Director of Innovation and Technology Policy
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)

James K. (Jim) Woodell is Director of Innovation and Technology Policy at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), where he works closely with member institutions to develop tools and resources to enhance their regional engagement and economic development efforts. He serves as the lead staff member for APLU’s Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness and Economic Prosperity (CICEP), and works closely with the organization’s Council on Engagement and Outreach (CEO) to advance APLU’s economic engagement agenda. Jim maintains APLU’s strong presence in the development and implementation of the national innovation and economic recovery agenda, and coordinates the organization’s advocacy efforts on technology and intellectual property issues. Jim is currently a candidate for a Ph.D. in Higher Education at Penn State University, the #1 ranked Higher Education program in U.S. New and World Report's Best Graduate Schools. His scholarly focus is on how public research universities organize for their “fourth mission” of economic engagement. He examines how institutions respond to regional, state, and federal economic and research policy with initiatives in technology transfer, innovation, and community development. Recently, Jim served as assistant director for Transformative Regional Engagement (TRE) Networks, focused on bringing together participants in the “quadruple helix” of business, government, universities, and non-profits for innovation-driven regional development. TRE Networks is emerging on the national stage as an important voice in leading this kind of economic and community change. Previously, Jim worked in distance education, instructional media, and e-learning for nearly 20 years. His experience ranges from the design and production of video for training, to coordinating the distribution of satellite-based videoconferences, to the development of online courses for teachers. Jim was a college teacher and administrator for ten years, including managing a large-scale distance learning program for Southern New Hampshire University, recently highlighted in Clayton Christenson’s book The Innovative University. Jim also served as Dean of Academic Technology and Distance Learning at North Shore Community College in Massachusetts. Jim holds a Master of Education degree from Harvard University, and a BS in Public Communications (TV, Radio, and Film) from Syracuse University.

ABOUT THIS SERIES:

From the Presidents-Investors Summit held in January 2012, the organizers of this series have put together several topics that have stemmed from the discussions from the event, and that build upon the letter to Commerce Secretary Locke from the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) and over 130 university presidents: Recommendations to Facilitate University-Based Technology Commercialization. [click here to download the NACIE letter].This webinar series will highlight and showcase specific initiatives and programs that universities are doing in response to the NACIE letter and provides a venue for other universities to learn from their peers on strategies that will advance their own programs towards research commercialization.

VIEW PAST WEBINARS:

April 11, 2012: APLU’s Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness, and Economic Prosperity (CICEP): Supporting University Contributions to Regional Economies
May 3, 2012: Engaging Entrepreneurial Students Through Innovation-Based Residence Hall Programs

WEBINAR TOPICS:

The following topics have been established for this series, based on the categories of recommendations included in the NACIE letter referenced above. Each webinar will focus on one subtopic under the major headings. If your university would like to present, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Business Plan Compeitions and Other Inspirations for Student Entrepreneurs

• Entrepreneurship in the Classroom: Campus-Wide Courses and Programs

• Bringing Student Entrepreneurs Together, in Special Student Housing, Clubs, and Organizations

Encouraging Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Core Issues in Promoting Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Connecting Faculty to Serial Entrepreneurs and to Investors

• Faculty Work at University Research Parks and Incubators

• The Role of Tenure and Promotion, Incentives, and Rewards in Faculty Entrepreneurship

• Scaffolding Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship With Funding, Mentors, and Other Supports

Actively Supporting the Faculty TT function

• What Gets Measured is What Counts: Metrics and Benchmarks for the Success of Technology Transfer

• Regional Technology Transfer Consortia and Other Alternatives to the Kauffman "Free Agency" Idea

Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration

• Strategies for Successful Facilities Sharing

• Emerging Models for Advancing Corporate R&D at Universities

• Get to "Yes" Quickly: Speed Negotiations and express Licensing

Engaging with Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts

• Universities as Convenors for Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Connecting Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Regional Talent Development

• Place-Based Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Regional Community Development

• Getting Recognized and Rewarded for Exemplary Economic Engagement

Press References:

America's Universities Growing the Economy With “Lab to Market” Initiatives

Letter to Secretary Locke: Recommendations to Facilitate University-Base Technology Commercialization

AAU and APLU Universities Announce Economic Development Plans

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ATTENDEES:

WEBINAR SCHEDULE: This webinar series is scheduled every 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month. Changes in schedules or topics will be posted on this page and sent to you through email.

WEBINAR DURATION: Each session is a 90-minute webinar with 60 minutes of presentation and 30 minutes of Q&A.

COST: Free, but registration required by clicking on the Register button above. Your registration is valid for all webinars in this series

HOW TO PARTICIPATE?: This webinar is online. You need a computer with web access for the visual/audio. You may also dial-in using the audio-only telephone number. The call in details and instructions on how to join the webinar will be sent to you via email after you register. Once registered to the webinar you will receive a reminder email 24 hours before the start of the webinar with instructions on how to join.

QUESTIONS TO SPEAKERS: Q&A is conducted by a chat box to the speakers.

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE WEBINAR?: National and international media, federal and state government officials, venture capitalists, angel investors, Global 1000 companies, industry representatives, university officials, entrepreneurs, tech transfer professionals, students, and university faculty and staff, entrepreneurship center directors, student affairs, residence hall directors, technology transfer officials, university and regional economic development staff.

SLIDES AND VIDEO: The slide presentations and video recording will be available on this page. If you are unable to join the live webinar, you may view the recorded video that will be posted within 24 hours after the scheduled webinar ends.