Researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a patent-pending method for fabricating aerogel composites for thermal insulation applications — and NASA is now making this technology available for licensing. NASA’s award-winning engineer Frances Hurwitz developed the technology in collaboration with Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI). In fact, the two organizations have a joint-ownership agreement (JOA) in place for the intellectual property (IP). The JOA specifies the roles and responsibilities for patent prosecution and technology marketing, and it authorizes NASA Glenn to represent OAI during license negotiations. Quite frankly, this agreement is a big win for potential licensees:…

On Monday, President Obama signed bipartisan legislation to increase the federal focus on the harmful algal blooms plaguing the Great Lakes and U.S. ocean waters. But progress in understanding HABs is already underway, thanks to an ongoing collaboration between two federal agencies. Researchers from NASA and NOAA have been working together to improve monitoring of HABs, which pose significant threats to humans and wildlife as they form, spread, and disappear.

It’s great to be in San Francisco for the 2014 AUTM national meeting. Today was our first full day here, and it’s been busy! The meeting is definitely off to a great start! I spent a good bit of today at the Fuentek booth (#207). I haven’t seen formal registration numbers, but the traffic at our booth suggests there is solid representation from all over the world. Becky Stoughton and I met a number of attendees from Europe, South America, Asia, and the Middle East. Many of our conversations with those from outside the U.S. were about starting technology transfer offices (TTOs) or effective strategies for growing a nascent TTO.

Several weeks back, I participated in an excellent event that should inspire any organization looking to make the most of its R&D through commercialization, collaboration, and other forms of technology transfer. The “Technology Day” event, which took place NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, had value that transcends federal labs and isn’t limited to the U.S. Sponsored by Dryden’s technology transfer organization, the Technology Day wasn’t for…

Reprinted from AUTM Newsbrief. Both skeptics wondering whether social media is worth the effort and social media enthusiasts are likely to find the results interesting. Although the brief survey was unscientific, the results provided data on the positive impact of social media as well as valid concerns about the use and role of these tools. An analysis of the responses sheds light on how TTOs can increase the value of social media while avoiding the negative situations cited by some respondents.

Last week I had the great opportunity to participate in a social media panel at the 2013 meeting of the Association of University Technology Managers®. My fellow panelists and I were thrilled to have a large audience with very engaged participants. I’d like to share a few of the themes that I found to resonate most strongly with our audience, based on both their questions and their facial expressions!

Calling all technology transfer professionals! Whether you use social media in your work or not, this survey is for you. Longtime readers of Fuentek’s blog may remember when we invited the tech transfer industry to complete a survey about current/planned use for social media. The results of that survey showed that many respondents had started (or planned) to use LinkedIn®, Twitter®, and to a lesser extent Facebook® and blogging to build their brand, market technologies, and build community. It’s time to revisit the question…

A Forbes post from UCLA’s John Villasenor entitled “Intellectual Property Awareness at Universities: Why Ignorance Is Not Bliss” caught my eye. It discussed the importance of teaching the next generation of engineers, scientists, and innovators “what IP is and why it matters.” Having conducted an informal survey of engineering grad students, Villasensor discovered that their understanding of IP was woefully lacking. He rightfully raised the question:…

Like the Boy Scout mantra, there is no substitute for being prepared. Before you reach out to marketing prospects – or even place information about a technology on your Web site – be sure you have the resources to respond quickly. (Hint: If you’re going to be traveling, don’t begin a big email push just before you depart.) If someone makes an effort to inquire about a technology, the best time to hook that prospect is…

Updated September 2016 • Even though next summer feels far away, now is the time to begin planning for next summer’s internship program, especially if you’re establishing a new one. Ideally, interns should begin working in the technology transfer office (TTO) at the beginning of the summer following the first year of their graduate program. If you start planning now, you can have the call for applicants go out in early March, interview and select candidates in April, and train them in May.