Are you part of a startup, spin-out or development team looking to the transfer-technology process from industry, university, and government research areas to commercialize a technology or idea?

The process of transferring technology has opened up new fields in medicine, engineering and information systems fostering innovation. To those engaged in the tech-transfer process a rich source of developing technologies and ideas becomes available to commercialize profitable and multi-million dollar ventures.

How do startups, inside or outside of research organizations bring developing technologies to market? How do startups and investors value and assess ideas to launch new technologies? What is the process for development teams to engage in launching a venture? What examples of successfully commercialized ventures can early startups look to for ideas and guidance with challenging issues? How do you effectively assess market viability of an idea? What are the process and pitfalls of working with universities, private and governments’ research areas?

In the next EntreTech Forum we will delve into the process of Technology Transfer to answer these questions and more. Startups from all fields are encouraged to join us. We will discuss innovation in medical technology as a case study to illustrate the transfer process through to commercialization. The forum’s panel will draw from leaders in industry, academic and government fields. The panel’s goal is to help startups better understand, utilize and leverage their experience in commercializing the technology transfer process. Please join us for what will be an informative and interactive discussion.

Panel:

Abigail Barrow, Ph.D.
Director,
Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTTC)
abarrow@umassp.edu

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.

Michael K. Dempsey
Entrepreneur in Residence, CIMT

Mike Dempsey is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT). Mike’s primary responsibility is to lead the CIMIT Accelerator Program which is focused on finding, funding and facilitating innovations that are to be handed off to industry within twelve to eighteen months. Mike and his team work closely with the project teams to not only advance the technology, but also to develop and execute a complete strategy for getting the innovation into practice.

Mike has been working in the field of medical devices for more than 25 years; during this time he has invented or worked on products that have treated over twenty million people. He was a co-founding of Radianse, a venture-backed company that develops indoor positioning systems for hospitals. Prior to founding Radianse, Mike worked as a technical strategist for wireless solutions at Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies (now Philips Medical Systems). He has helped to develop and introduce dozens of successful products, holds over 40 patents in wireless medical device communications and has ten more patents pending. Mike received a special citation from the Commissioner of the FDA for "exceptional initiative and leadership to protect the public health." He has a BSEE from The University of Michigan.

Tracey Dodenhoff
Director, Center for Research Innovation at Northeastern University

Ms. Dodenhoff is a Founding Director of the Center for Research Innovation (CRI), an exciting new venture focusing on increasing commercialization activity from research initiatives, enhancing entrepreneurial opportunities for Northeastern University's students and continuing to build on Northeastern University's leadership in the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship. She is responsible for the translation of innovations into tangible commercial successes through the Center for Research Innovation. Tracey also provides leadership and direction for the University's technology transfer practice.

Ms. Dodenhoff is also CEO and Founder of Vanguard Technologies, LLC an entrepreneurial business development company driven to establish and expand product innovations in the global marketplace. Vanguard’s business model is based on rapid revenue generation, with a focus on leveraging innovation to establish and accelerate sustainable growth. Vanguard's global resources span product, operations & business development, enabling us to quickly respond to opportunities while mitigating many of the risks associated with traditional early stage innovation models.

Tracey is a Business Advisor at Visitrend, LLC and contributes to business development, technology transition and commercialization efforts. VisiTrend helps users exploit their data to make better decisions through interactive, visual analytics.

Nina Green
Director, Office for Technology Licensing and Industry Collaboration, Tufts University

• Manages the Tufts University Office for Technology Licensing and Industry Collaboration
• Contact for School of Arts and Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts Medical Center

Technologies: life science, medicine, nutrition, veterinary

Rebecca Menapace
M.B.A., CLP Director, Research and Licensing,
Partners Healthcare

Rebecca manages the research and licensing team for MGH. In this role she provides leadership for intellectual property, licensing, and start-up development. In addition, she chairs various process improvement projects related to asset building and commercialization strategies. Rebecca has been with RVL since September 2001. Prior to joining Partners Healthcare, she spent over 15 years in product development, corporate development, business strategy, and management within the life science sector. Following several years of laboratory and supervisory experience, including the issuance of two patents as a joint inventor, she went on to develop and manage products for two life sciences companies. She further contributed her business skills toward the negotiation of licensing and acquisitions at a major multinational contract research organization. She holds an M.B.A. with a focus on High Tech from Northeastern University and is a registered patent agent and a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP).

Lita L. Nelsen
Director, Technology Licensing Office, MIT

Lita Nelsen is the Director of the Technology Licensing Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she has been since 1986. This office manages over 500 new inventions per year from M.I.T and Lincoln Laboratory. Typically, they negotiate over 100 licenses, and start up over 20 new companies per year

Ms. Nelsen earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from M.I.T. and an M.S. in Management from M.I.T. as a Sloan Fellow.
Prior to joining the M.I.T. Technology Licensing Office, Ms. Nelsen spent 20 years in industry, primarily in the fields of membrane separations, medical devices, and biotechnology

Ms. Nelsen was the 1992 President of the Association of University Technology Managers and serves on the board the Mount Auburn Hospital, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Foundation. She was a founding board member of the Center for Management of Intellectual Property in Health Research.

Ms. Nelsen is widely published in the field of technology transfer and university/industry collaborations and was a CMI Fellow at the University of Cambridge with the Cambridge MIT Institute studying university/industry/government partnerships in technology transfer and local economic development. She has lectured in and advised universities in at least 20 countries, including several developing-world countries. She is a co-founder of Praxis, the UK University Technology Transfer Training Programme. the UK Government awarded her the honor of “Member of the Order of the British Empire” (MBE) for her work with technology transfer institutions throughout the UK, including the founding of Praxis.

Contact info: Email: lita@mit.edu