SIREUS RESEARCH Forum: Introduction to Technology Transfer in the USA

Welcome to the second SIREUS RESEARCH forum with Stephen Susalka, CEO of AUTM and Nicole (Forsberg) Sheppard, Business Development Executive at Venture Partners at CU Boulder (over Teams).

Technology transfer, the process of commercializing university research into ventures and new technologies licensed to industry is a complex and crucial process to drive society forward. The commercialization of ground-breaking research into products on the market is the key to solving some of humanity’s most pressing challenges in medicine, the environment, computing and beyond.

AUTM, formerly the Association of University Technology Managers, is the world’s largest organization for University Technology Transfer manages with more than 3,000 members representing more than 800 universities, research centers, hospitals, businesses and government organizations around the globe. 

About the speaker: Stephen Susalka is the CEO of AUTM and is a regular speaker on technology transfer issues. Stephen has presented on Capitol Hill and internationally on topics ranging from the evolution of the technology transfer profession to start-up formation. Before joining AUTM, Steve served as Associate Director for Commercialization at Wake Forest Innovations where he was responsible for commercializing high-impact inventions, and drafting, negotiating and executing a wide variety of licensing and start-up transactions.

Stephen is a registered U.S. Patent Agent and a past Board member of multiple Wake Forest-affiliated start-ups. He has also led the Winston-Salem Technology Council to retain and grow local technology businesses to strengthen the economy.

Stephen will present an overview of the state of technology transfer and university research commercialization globally, best practices, insights and more, followed by a moderated discussion with Nicole (Forsberg) Sheppard from Venture Partners at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Nicole has ~12 years of experience in business development and tech transfer in the US and Sweden. She is currently leading business development for a portfolio of approximately 200 patents spun out of research at The University of Colorado Boulder within life science, quantum technology and materials and serves on the Board of the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association, SACC USA, and SACC Colorado.  

There will be a dedicated time for Q&A, so please gather your most pressing questions about technology transfer and join us for an insightful session that you won’t want to miss if you are in, or curious about, university research commercialization!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to event@sireus.org

About Stephen https://autm.net/about-autm/stephen-j-susalka

About Nicole https://www.colorado.edu/venturepartners/nicole-forsberg