Last week, I was talking with a tech transfer professional about our webinar to train interns on performing technology screenings. And the question came up: Why interns? Shouldn’t technology managers screen technologies? I can understand why he asked.
This Story from the Field is based on Fuentek’s real-world experience with training tech transfer interns at a major research university. The tech transfer office hired interns to begin work at the start of the fall semester. Kick-off training sessions were held in late August and early September, before academic classes ramped up. These sessions provided an overview of the tech transfer process. They also gave basic information about the stages of intellectual property (IP) management. Fuentek then provided an in-depth series of webinars over 4 weeks.
It’s tempting to think of interns as cheap/free labor. But you must invest in them before they can provide a valuable return to your technology transfer office (TTO). To get the most of your interns—and for them to get the most out of their experience in your TTO—give them the support they need to be successful. Here’s how.
Selecting the best interns for your particular technology portfolio is very important. But even the best interns will flounder if improperly trained. Fuentek (and our client) learned this lesson very well in a case in which we were asked to help set up a summer internship program.
Now is the time to get the process underway for staffing your university tech transfer office (TTO) with interns. As discussed in our white paper about TTO internship programs, summer is the best time to have interns start. This allows them to work a full 30- to 40-hour week with few (if any) other commitments. It also helps them climb the learning curve more quickly.
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